The Dark Menace
by Ekobean
Summary: What if Gol and Maia didn't die in the first game, but were merely preserved? And worse, what if they woke up in the future? Chapter 19 up and running. This is solely dedicated to Dark Eco Freak because he's been so patient. FANFIC COMPLETED! BWAHAHAHA!
1. Chapter 1: A Dark Discovery

Ok, so this is pretty much a fic that I was thinking about long before I saw the Jak 3 intro. For all of you who have read the beginning of my Jak 3 fic, this will hopefully pass the time until the friggin' game comes out. So on to the disclaimer crap. I do not own Jak, Keira, Sig, Daxter, the Croca-Dog, Samos, Gol, Maia, or anyone in this fic accept the people whose names you didn't hear in the games. So please enjoy my second fanfic to pass your time. Please no flames!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Dark Eco...a substance of pure evil. Its very presence causes all that lives to whither and die. What is it exactly? How can it corrupt those unlucky few so easily? That is what the man's first mission had been to discover. He and his sister. He had believed that he would not be corrupted like so many before him. Vanity, as it always is, was his downfall. It did corrupt him. It corrupted them both. So many years had passed since that day...since the shining white blob had hovered over the Silos, had made the impossible possible. It fused with the boy and he destroyed the robot. Now here they were. The man stirred from his sleep. The Dark Eco had preserved them. He had no memory of what had happened. He looked about his surroundings. Rusting computers and controls were about him. A woman was next to him. Who was she? Who was HE? Why couldn't he remember?  
  
He had to get out! Had to! The Precursor robot – and that single word brought memories back. It brought them all. And he knew what he had to do...  
  
The three elves walked slowly down the bridge. Their footsteps made hollow clank sound as they touched.  
  
Sunlight blared down on them through the enormous windows of the Palace. It was hard to believe that so much change could happen in so little time. The one-time mess of uneven platforms, motion-sensing turbo cannons, and endless streams of security guards were gone. For the elf named Jak, this was quite refreshing.  
  
Exactly one year ago he had had to fight his way through, constantly running for his life. It felt very refreshing to be rid of that feeling.  
  
Jak looked back at the other two who accompanied him. One of them was Keira. Her large, blue eyes were scanning the surroundings nervously. This had been her first time in the Palace. Jak smiled. He loved Keira very much, and she loved him. He had known her ever since he could remember and had always found her attractive.  
  
The other elf was Samos, her father. Samos walked more slowly now. Jak could only guess the Sage's age. The length of his beard and the extent of his knowledge showed that he had to be much older than he appeared. It was no small wonder either. Samos was the Sage of Green Eco, the Eco of Life.  
  
Last was Daxter. Jak hadn't counted him as an elf, because he wasn't. Daxter was what he had affectionately labeled himself as. An Ottsel. Daxter had small, fingerless gloves on his hands/paws. On his forehead were strapped a pair of pilot goggles. Something unusual was going on with Daxter today. He wasn't talking...much.  
  
Jak turned back to the path. Not far in front of them he saw the enormous doors coming up. Beyond them was the throne room. As they approached the doors a computerized female voice rang up over an unseen speaker. "Identification," it said, then waited for a reply.  
  
"Er, Jak; Keira; Samos," said Samos.  
  
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" asked Daxter in a mock-casual voice.  
  
"You weren't invited," said Keira matter-of-factly. Daxter grumbled something undistinguishable.  
  
There was a loud sound of mechanical gears turning about as the huge doors opened to reveal the throne room.  
  
As the group entered a gasp ran through the group. The throne room was incredible. Truly cavernous. Great Greek-style pillars surrounded them as they slowly walked into the room. Skylights were placed in the ceiling, showing a full view of the sky. Several birds flew overhead, casting shadows down upon the stone floor. A red carpet rolled from the entrance to the throne itself. The throne was fifteen feet tall, mostly because of the steps that made it possible to sit in. There, sitting with her legs crossed carelessly was Ashelin, the new governess of the city.  
  
Her blood-red hair was tied into dread locks that ran from the sides to the back of her head. It gleamed radiantly in the afternoon sun. Ashelin's coal- black eyes followed them as they walked slowly towards her.  
  
Suddenly she stood and walked down the stairs rather quickly to meet them. "Jak, Keira, Samos," she said hurriedly, "thank you for coming."  
  
"Ahem," said a rather offended looking Ottsel.  
  
"I don't recall sending a message to you," said Ashelin with a confused voice.  
  
"Look!" said Daxter, standing bolt-upright on Jak's shoulder, "if it's important enough for Jak to come, it's important enough for me! I ain't leavin'."  
  
Ashelin just shook her head. Then she turned to the rest of the group. "You all were informed of a crisis that is soon to befall us soon in the messages that were sent," she stated, "the future of this city may be in grave danger."  
  
The group didn't say anything. Their attention was focused on what Ashelin had to say.  
  
"This may just give you a glimpse at what we may be facing." Ashelin walked back up the throne and pushed a button on the arm rest. There was a slight rumbling sound. The group scanned their surroundings nervously, only to find that a white screen had been lowered in front of the entrance. "The video that you are about to see was recorded on the west side of the city, near the city walls by one of the Palace's security cameras.  
  
The screen flickered as a black-and-white image appeared on the screen. Citizens were walking up and down the streets, nothing really seemed out of the ordinary. Suddenly out of nowhere an enormous explosion erupted from the left side of the screen. Bodies were sent flying. After a moment Metal Heads charged into the streets. Helpless citizens were sliced to ribbons in seconds. Pools of blood began to form in the dips of the streets. After several minutes Krimzon Guards began appearing. Lasers were fired, people falling and dying. The video ended suddenly.  
  
"The video continues on like this for the remainder," said Ashelin.  
  
"Why would Metal Heads attack the city?" asked Keira shakily. She looked frightfully pale and had her hand on her forehead. "There are hardly any left!"  
  
"It was barely an attack," replied Ashelin, "there were at least twenty of them. The news of this has been suppressed to that single sector of the city. We have guards covering all of the city walls. There is no chance that the Metal Heads will get in without us knowing.  
  
"I'm having autopsies done on the bodies now. I managed to see some of them. They had a weird purple hue to them. I don't know what it could mean."  
  
At that moment the screen flashed again. The in-color face of a pale, Vin- like scientist appeared on the screen. His bottom lip was quivering nervously. "G-g-governess?" he said nervously.  
  
"Report, Veseer," said Ashelin impatiently.  
  
"W-well, you see, erm, we may have a problem."  
  
"No, really?" said Daxter sarcastically.  
  
"Er, well we've found that the Metal Heads' flesh has somehow been infused with...gulp...some sort of concentrated form of Dark Eco."  
  
Ashelin froze for a moment then turned off the screen.  
  
"What could this mean, Ashelin?" asked Jak. He didn't even want to know. He knew that Dark Eco was something that he should never be in contact with.  
  
"It means, my boy," said Samos gravely, "that evil is coming."  
  
Ekobean: Well, I hope you like it. I admit that it isn't as good as my last one, but I'm writing it at 10:00 PM, so what do you expect. Please R&R. I really like good reviews! :-D 


	2. Chapter 2: Slaughter

Ok, next chapter. I'm writing this a 6:30, so hopefully it will be better. Please enjoy!  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Jak lay awake in his bed. He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the face of the traitorous Kor, the leader of the Metal Heads. He was laughing at him, pointing a clawed finger at him. He was saying something like "I will get my revenge! You will die..."  
  
There was another feeling to. Jak couldn't explain it. It came from deep within his soul. It was an ominous, foreboding feeling. He believed Samos was right, something evil was coming.  
  
If the Metal Heads had found some way to control Dark Eco, do implant it into themselves, a dangerous threat was at hand. How much longer before the Metal Heads tried another attack? How much longer before they tried to overthrow the city like they had before?  
  
Jak shook his head. That was insane. Why would they? The Precursor Stone was gone, so the Metal Heads wouldn't gain anything from it.  
  
But another voice in his head spoke up. Maybe they want YOU. They want revenge for the destruction of their Leader. They're looking for you. You...YOU...YOU!!!  
  
Jak shook his head. He was over imagining the situation. Or was he? Jak knew there was only one way to find out. He didn't like it, but he didn't see any other way. If the Metal Heads had discovered someway to control Dark Eco, he had to find out. He had to go to the Nest.  
  
Jak looked at the other person in the bed. Keira's eyes were closed, she was snoring softly. Her soft hand was placed lightly on his chest. He had been living in Keira's home ever since they had met again. She had been much better off than him in life. She wasn't tortured for two years with Dark Eco. She didn't have a demon inside her trying to claw its way out. Jak plucked up her hand and lightly kissed it. Keira smiled slightly in her sleep.  
  
"Sorry, Keira, but I have to do this."  
  
Without another word Jak leapt from the bed. Rain rattled on the window, blurring the images of the city outside. Keira and he lived in the Industrial section.  
  
Jak walked to the closet and quietly opened it. He pulled out his blue, armored tunic and his steel-toed boots. He was already wearing his tan pants. (Uh huh, you were starting to get some thoughts there, weren't you? You people are sick! () He then kneeled down to the bottom of the closet. He cautiously looked back at Keira to make sure she was truly asleep, then pulled out a large metal box that had been covered by piles of old clothes. Jak silently slid the lid off to reveal the Morph Gun. Its four barrels were arranged next to it, along with its holster and his JET-Board. Jak had told Keira that he had thrown them away. He had always wondered why she was so uncomfortable around weapons when she worked on other kinds of machines.  
  
Jak equipped the Blaster barrel and cocked it. Immediately cursing himself he whipped back to Keira. Her ear twitched, but she showed no other sign of awakening. He breathed a sigh of relief, then; carefully covering the box; he walked out the front door. He didn't bother to lock it. A motorcycle- style Zoomer was parked outside. Jak punched in the security code and turned the handle. The engine immediately roared to life.  
  
He turned the clutch fully and sped off at top speed to the Port. Jak was in the low hover zone. He felt more comfortable when he was closer to the ground. After about five minutes the entrance to the Port came into view. Jak rode the Zoomer to the first island to where the Air Train was usually parked. It's dark shape came into view through the heavy veil of mist that surrounded the Port. Rain pounded hard down on Jak's head. His hair was drenched and was stuck like plaster to his neck. It was a miserable enough night to return to a miserable place.  
  
Jak brought the Zoomer to a screeching halt next to the Air Train. He slowly walked around it, examining it. The paint was chipped and peeling and the insides of the engines were badly scorched. "It'd probably be safer to swim." Jak mused. He then walked up to the pilot's side and tapped impatiently on the glass.  
  
After a moment an aged man in an old suit looked out the window at him. His eyes were droopy and had bags, and a small line of drool hung from his mouth. He must have been asleep.  
  
"Whaddayawant?" the man asked groggily.  
  
"I need transportation." Jak answered simply.  
  
"Ya got any idea what time it is?"  
  
"I've got a pass." Jak answered. He was beginning to lose patience.  
  
The pilot sighed and opened the back door. As Jak walked in the door closed with a slight shudder. "Where ya headed?" asked the pilot as he punched something into the control panel while drinking something from a rusty thermos. The train gave a horrible shudder as the engines roared up before dying. "Aw, you piece of shit!" yelled the pilot, kicking the control panel. The engines fired up again. Jak heard something rattling below.  
  
"I think you have something loose down there." He said.  
  
"Nah, it always does that," the pilot replied casually.  
  
"Maybe you should have it looked at."  
  
"Where ya headed?" he asked a bit more impatiently.  
  
Jak sighed, prepared for the reaction as the pilot took another swig from his thermos. "The Metal Head Nest."  
  
The pilot spit the odiferous substance into the windshield. "You kiddin', right?" he said laughing unsurely as he turned around to face Jak. What he found was Jak's Blaster aimed right at him. Its aiming laser hovered dangerously between his eyes.  
  
"What do you think?" asked Jak angrily. Without another word the pilot put his foot on the gas and the transport roared top speed towards the Nest.  
  
As the rusted contraption landed, the back door opened before it touched the ground. Jak leaped out immediately. He equipped the Peace Maker barrel and aimed it defensively around him. The air in and around the nest had a horrible, rank smell. The smell of death and decay. His heartbeat quickened as he looked around for any sign of movement or the ominous yellow glow of a Skull Gem. Jak turned back to the pilot. "You'd better be here when I get back."  
  
Without another word journeyed deeper into the nest. Jak knew that there was Dark Eco in the nest, but not much. There were only a few small streams running through. Not enough for what the Metal Heads had done.  
  
As he passed the streams he did his best not to look at them. He tried to ignore the other presence in his mind, the feeling that wanted him more than anything to leap into the Dark Eco. To absorb it so that it could come out. Jak focused on his journey, ignoring the presence. Enormous rib cages and bones lay everywhere. Victims of the Metal Heads? Before Jak knew it he was on the outside of the Metal Head Leader's lair.  
  
Something was wrong. There were no Metal Heads. They had thoroughly abandoned their nest. So where had they gone? Without another thought Jak cautiously entered the lair. The rocky incline that lead down into it was still there. He skidded down it, kicking up loose gravel and dirt. No rain reached the ground of the lair. As he entered, a horrible sight awaited him. Jak gasped at the scene before him.  
  
Bodies lay in pieces everywhere. Not the bodies of elves, but of Metal Heads. They were impaled on long, black spears that stuck through their bodies. Stalactites that had been rumbled from the ceiling had crushed others. Heads were bashed in, bodies dismembered, Skull Gems shattered to pieces. Thick, oily black blood formed in deep, black pools, coagulating. Jak turned away from the grizzly scene, only to find a sound reaching his sensitive ears.  
  
It was the sound of a thick liquid sloshing about. Some horrible substance. Jak knew the sound. He turned reluctantly to the bottomless pit that was located in the middle of the lair. The once empty space was now filled with the horrible, rank Dark Eco. Light caught in it made it glow with a sickly purple. How had this happened? Jak slowly walked toward it, carefully avoiding the carcasses of the slaughtered Metal Heads. He wasn't truly doing this. It was the other. Its mind was growing more powerful. It was driving him, forcing him to walk toward the rank, vile substance. It wanted more than ever for him to jump in, to absorb it. The persona of Dark Jak was one of pure evil.  
  
His presence came in handy every once in a while. His want for death had helped Jak out of many life-or-death situations. But not now. Jak fought with all his might to resist. No! He screamed to the creature, This is my body! Mine! I control it!  
  
Jump in, whispered, Jump!  
  
No, Jak thought.  
  
Jump in!  
  
No.  
  
Jump!  
  
No!  
  
Jump!  
  
No!  
  
JUMP!!!!!  
  
"NO!!!!" Jak screamed. The sound of his voice echoed throughout the cavernous lair and into the night. Jak found himself on the ground, clutching his head with his hands. Jak looked down at the Dark Eco and scrambled away, climbing up the incline without looking back. He ran all the way back to the shore, only to find the Train had gone. "Son of a ..." Jak moaned. The sun was beginning to appear on the horizon. How long had he been gone?  
  
Jak looked off towards Haven City in the distance. It was a long way away. Without another word Jak leapt onto his JET-Board and zoomed away across the water toward the mainland, leaving no evidence of his passing except the fingerprints in the sand of the lair.  
  
Ekobean: (Shakes his numb and bleeding fingers) There! I hope you're happy. There's another chapter down the tube. God knows how many more to go. Please read and review. I hope you enjoyed the second chapter of "Dark Menace"! 


	3. Chapter 3: Evil Returns

Sorry it's been so long. I've had a crapload of things to do and just not enough time to continue Dark Menace. But now, here you go. The third chapter of Dark Menace. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"You did WHAT!!??" Keira shrieked. All eyes were on Jak as he looked around cautiously at the people sitting around him. They were sitting in a small, cramped booth in the Naught Ottsel on the port. Daxter (who owned the bar) was sitting on his girlfriend Tess' lap.  
  
"Jeez, Jak," he said, "I've seen you do some stupid stuff, but THAT just tops it off!...Scratch me there, would ya babe?" Daxter looked up at Tess expectantly.  
  
Tess giggled and began lightly scratching Daxter between the ears.  
  
"Ya could've at least taken me along!" thundered Sig, who was gulping down some thick, blue substance from a purple mug. "I haven't seen any action in a while."  
  
"I know you usually have reasons for some of the things you do, Jak," said Samos wisely, "but, I'm sorry, that was...stupid."  
  
"Look," sighed Jak, "I'm sorry if I scared you all, but I had some weird feeling. I've been having it for a while now. I just felt that I had to make sure if the Metal Heads were getting smarter or if..." Jak trailed off.  
  
"'If' WHAT!?" Keira demanded, pounding a gloved fist on the table.  
  
"If the Metal Heads were...well...working alone," Jak chose his words carefully. He couldn't find the exact words to describe what he felt.  
  
"Jak, in all my years of research in Precurian history, in all their records and data bases that they left behind, they state that the Hora-Quan were a solitary race completely reliant on themselves and their leader."  
  
"Kor," said Daxter lazily, opening one eye halfway as he enjoyed a message.  
  
"But Kor's dead now, isn't he? If they were so reliant on him, don't you think they'd try and find something else to rely on? Something powerful?" asked Jak thoughtfully.  
  
Samos raised a hand and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He opened and closed his mouth several times, searching for a logical answer to Jak's statement. After about thirty seconds of this routine he sat down again, eyes closed, and took a large sip from the mug in front of him.  
  
"Got ya that time, didn't he, Greeney?" asked Daxter cheerfully, only to find Samo's cane across his head a split second later.  
  
"Makes sense," said Sig as he set down his mug, "But who'd be insane enough to help the Metal Heads?"  
  
"There are a lot of weird people out there, big guy," said Daxter, gingerly touching the large, pink lump that had begun to rise from his head. "Believe me, I know." He gave a sidelong look at Samos, who was still sipping from his mug.  
  
"Look, you guys haven't even let me finish," Jak interrupted impatiently.  
  
"There's more?" asked Keira through gritted teeth. Jak looked nervously at Keira before continuing.  
  
"Well, see I made my way into the center of the Nest. It was weird. The whole way through I didn't even see any sign of recent Metal Head activity. I finally made it to the leader's lair and went in. It was...horrible." Jak remembered the Metal Heads' slaughtered bodies, their black blood covering the ground. He told them about the Metal Heads' bodies and the Dark Eco. However, he did leave out the details of Dark Jak's rebellion. The last thing he needed was for them to worry about him, especially with the concerns about the Metal Heads at hand.  
  
There were a couple moments of silence. Some, like Samos, Sig, and Tess, were looking feverishly down at the table, as if processing what Jak had just told them. Daxter's mouth was simply hanging open. Keira was biting her nails, her bright eyes wide open.  
  
"Jak, my boy," said Samos finally, "I take back what I said whole heartedly. This may be just the most important news we have ever received. Ashelin should know about this immediately." Without another word Samos lifted into the air and was out the door in a green streak.  
  
The remaining people of the group talked for a while after Samos left. The excitement of the conversation was gone. They mostly just asked for small details of the incident, just for something to talk about. They began to slowly depart after a while.  
  
Jak and Keira were the last to leave. As they walked down the sidewalks of the Port they began to talk. Mist hung lazily about the murky waters. Brown ooze dripped from the pipes of the large factories that surrounded the port. The mist was made golden by the light of the rising sun. It was a beautiful sight to behold as the mist glowed, it seemed to have a life of its own. This was the only time that the murky, polluted waters of the Port were covered, and truly seemed to be a beautiful thing.  
  
Keira sighed next to Jak. "Jak, look," she said finally, "I'm sorry I yelled earlier on. It's just that I wish you wouldn't do some of the things that you do. I know you have your reasons, but it just confuses me."  
  
"I'm sorry about that, Keira," Jak said slowly. "I've just been having these feelings lately. I don't know, it's just that I've been feeling that something terrible is going to happen soon. And now, seeing the bodies of those Metal Heads, I think that that feeling may have been confirmed."  
  
Keira sighed. She had to remember that Jak had been through things that she never would. He had been tortured for two years, experimented on, injected with Dark Eco almost every day for two years. He had another entity living inside him. The problem was that she would forget that sometimes. But it was so frustrating sometimes, she had a hard time coping with it. "I'm sorry," she said again and wrapped her arms slowly about him. Jak smiled softly and returned the embrace. The held the position for a minute, enjoying each other's company.  
  
They slowly parted after a moment. "I better go back to the race garage," Keira said softly, "the Zoomers need some tuning up for the next big race." She then began to walk off into the distance.  
  
"I'll see you tonight," Jak called after her. Keira looked over her shoulder and waved after him. She slowly faded into the fog of the early morning. Jak began walking in the opposite direction, his hands in his pockets. He was thinking about all different things. His head was abuzz with confusing mixtures of thoughts, where Keira and he may go tonight, visions of the slaughtered Metal Heads, lakes of Dark Eco...Jak hardly noticed were he was walking. His feet seemed to be leading him randomly while his mind wondered somewhere else. By the time he noticed where he was, he found that he was in the Slums.  
  
Jak looked about. The changes were quite evident. No longer were there bums and homeless people burning the contents of garbage cans for warmth, or the endless potholes that littered the streets. The broken windows and oozing pipes were almost all gone. In their place was a much neater, more desirable place to live. Ashelin had done wonders on the Slums since she became Governess, along with the entire city. The Slums were hardly slums anymore. Jak continued walking, not noticing a small, wiry figure cautiously stepping out from under a trench.  
  
The figure was an elf. He wore a torn, stained trench coat, and the beginnings of an unshaven beard were forming on his chin. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had wild, red hair that stuck in all directions on his head. In his hands was a long board with five six-inch-long nails sticking out of the end. The man's mouth was twisted in a savage snarl. His steps became more frequent, less stealthy as he began to catch up to Jak. At last, when he was five feet away, he seemed not to be able to control himself any longer.  
  
"Murderer!!" he shrieked savagely, and swung the board nails-first at Jak's head. Jak ducked in the nick of time as the nails grazed his hears. Jak winced as blood began to steadily drip from the tip. The man screamed again and swung again. Jak strafed the right and aimed a kick for the man's head. The man barely dodged it, and swung the board into Jak's outstretched leg. Jak howled as the nails sunk deep into his thigh.  
  
The crazed elf wrenched the board from Jak's leg and swung again. Blood stained Jak's pants as he rolled under the elf's attack, trying to ignore the pain. The man brought the board down with full force towards Jak's head. Jak sidestepped the attack and grabbed the board. The man screamed and began to wrestle. The two were locked in combat, circling each other. Jak was amazed by the thin man's strength. He seemed to be driven by will alone. But what had he done to upset this man so much?  
  
Jak wrenched the board from the man's hand and railed him in the head with the flat side. The man did a 360-degree spin in midair before falling to the ground, groaning. Jak walked over and grabbed the man by the front of the shirt. The man squealed as he was brought face-to-face with Jak. His face was already beginning to swell from the blow that Jak had dealt.  
  
"Who are you?" Jak spat.  
  
"You killed our families!!" the man roared.  
  
"What?" Jak managed to say before more cries filled the air. Five more bums stepped out from unseen corners.  
  
"Rip him up! Kill him! DIE!!! Murderer! Hate you!" They were all screaming as they charged forth. Jak barely had time to react as they approached. Jak kicked off of one, and flipping over him, railed him with both hands in the head. He staggered, but did not fall.  
  
Two more charged him as he landed. One caught Jak by both arms and held him while the other began punching him in the stomach. Blood dripped from Jak's mouth as the elf continued his relentless attack. Jak raised his knee and blocked the man's next punch, then straightened his leg and hit the man with all his strength in the jaw with his steel-toed boot. The man flew five feet backward head first before hitting the ground. Jak slammed his head back into the one holding his arms' face. The man loosened his grip just enough for Jak to slip away. He unleashed a spin kick and sent the man flying backward into a trench.  
  
Another man charged him from the left. Jak caught his punch, lifted the man clean off of his feet and threw him into three others. Jak wasn't aware of his strength. It pumped from deep within, he didn't notice that Dark Eco was slowly beginning to pump through his veins, the other entity slowly growing slower, overtaking his mind with rage.  
  
Fists were clubbing him from all sides. Wild screams of rage flew about as the hysterical people pulled him down, throwing their weight upon him, beating him savagely to submission. A dark aura began to form under the dog pile, the air thickened, darkness seemed to engulf all the light around them. Purple volts of lightning shocked them. They began to back away, their eyes wide with looks of pure horror. Some simply stood mouths agape, others curled up into little balls and began to sob. And still others turned and fled. Only one was safe, unconscious in a trench. A thunderous roar filled every nook and cranny of the Slums as Jak changed. His clothing creaked and groaned as a pure, deathly black overtook his eyes. His canines lengthened by an inch and became razor sharp. His hair became wild and unkept, an goat-like horns sprouted from his forehead. His skin turned ghost-white, and last his fingernails lengthened to three-inch claws. Dark Jak had won, after a single year of fighting it, Jak had succumbed to the sheer rage that was Dark Jak.  
  
The demon surveyed his surroundings, sniffing the air like a dog. Long strings of saliva dripped from his gaping mouth. His pupil-less eyes looked down upon his attackers. A cry of rage rose from his throat, and without warning, he charged his attackers. Two made valiant efforts to defend themselves. One threw a badly-aimed punch at the demon, only to find his claws digging into his hand. In one fluid motion Dark Jak twisted the man's arm, splintering the bone. The man howled as he was thrown thirty feet into the air, over the building tops.  
  
The other snatched a rusty pipe and swung at Dark Jak. The demon grabbed the pipe in one hand. His muscles tensed as he sent a single surge of dark energy through the pipe and into the man. He screamed unceasingly as the volts of energy coursing through it incinerated his body.  
  
Next Jak walked towards one of the sobbing men, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off his feet. He felt the bones of his neck crack easily under his hand. Next he rushed another sobbing man, sank his claws into his chest and nimbly threw him into a nearby building. Concrete and rock were splintered as the man's body collided with it. Blood seeped through the rubble. The last of the men charged Dark Jak. The demon swiped one of his clawed hands at him. The man narrowly dodged it and railed the demon in the face.  
  
Dark Jak was taken aback at this new attack. It had been a full year since he had used his abilities. His body was still powering up, re-energizing the Dark Powers that had been gifted to him. The demon landed a swift sweep- kick on the man. The helpless elf fell to his knees as his legs gave way under him. The demon's had was on his face in a heartbeat. In one swift movement the man's skull had imploded upon itself.  
  
Dark Jak then began to run. He searched for more people, for more blood. He ran for a half a mile, people screamed and fled before him. He heard Krimzon Guard sirens in the background. They didn't matter! He would kill them! He would kill them all! He would...  
  
Tears ran down his white face from his glassy blue eyes. His pale skin was gaining color, his hair flattening. The horns shrank back into his skull, and his teeth became normal.  
  
Jak ran and ran. He heard gunshots behind him, heard people fleeing, felt the hot pain of an energy bullet as it grazed his ear. At last he fell to his knees. He couldn't do it. He couldn't live with it anymore. Sobbing, he fell to the ground as he heard the sirens and footsteps approach...  
  
Ekobean: (sighs) well there you go. Sorry it took so long, my internet service has been on the blink lately. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More are yet to come. Let's see what happens, shall we? 


	4. Chapter 4: Revelations

Ekobean: Well, after the last chapter you can imagine that Jak's not feeling too good with himself. I hope you enjoy this one!  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Jak heard the screams in his nightmares. He wanted it to stop, wanted to cry out, wanted to run away. But he couldn't, he wasn't in control. His body was another's. He could see the men fleeing, futilely fighting back against the demon's wrath. He saw the blood dripping, the people sobbing, the tears and red droplets mixing with the rough sand of the Slums.  
  
He wanted to cry, wanted to do...SOMETHING. But he couldn't. He heard the demon's laughter, the joy at the feeling of blood running down its claws again...he wanted it to go away. He wanted it to die. How could he have allowed it to become so strong? How did it take over? Why?  
  
"You can't shut me out forever!" it roared in his head, "I'll get free! I'll kill them all, and I'll make you watch!" Hysterical laughter filled his brain, every crevasse of it. He couldn't shut it out, couldn't stop it!  
  
"Stop!" he shouted. He sat up in the bed, sweat soaking his arms and face, matting his hair to the back of his neck. Where was he? He looked about his surroundings. White walls surrounded him on all sides, about 10x10 feet. He was lying on a small, firm bed with a small machine bleeping at his side. He noticed all of a sudden that a long, metal cord was carefully worked into his vein. Some sort of faint blue liquid was being pumped into his vein.  
  
Jak roughly pulled the cord from his arm and let it fall to the floor, where the liquid began to form a small pool. The moment the cord left his arm a wave of memories flowed back to his mind. The people attacking him, beating him, and Dark Jak uprising and killing them.  
  
A moment later an unseen door opened at his left. Ashelin walked in, accompanied by one Krimzon Guard. He had his shock rifle pointed cautiously at Jak. "You can go," Ashelin said calmly to the guard. The guard grunted and reluctantly left the room, closing the door behind him with a loud "thunk".  
  
Ashelin walked to a chair across the room and at in it, simply staring at Jak through those coal-black eyes. "Samos told me about what you did," Ashelin stated. Her voice sounded hollow somehow, completely devoid of emotion. "It was a very foolish move on your part Jak. You could've been" –  
  
"Save the lectures, Ashelin," Jak said angrily, "I've already heard them. Like I told them, I've been having weird feelings that something bad is going to happen. Something that has to do with those recent Metal Head attacks."  
  
"Jak," Ashelin interrupted, "The information you discovered at the Nest is invaluable. We know now that something has happened there, obviously. I have already dispatched a team to survey it. We're expecting a response soon. But that's not why I came to you, Jak." She leaned in closer on her chair. Her eyes sparkled in the dim lighting of the room like dark rubies. "I want to talk to you about the incident yesterday."  
  
"Dark Jak," Jak said darkly, "What is there to talk about? I let my guard down and he seized control. There's nothing more to say."  
  
"Yes there is Jak. I'm becoming worried about Dark Jak. He's becoming extremely dangerous. Attacking citizens randomly and all" –  
  
"Attacking THEM!!?" Jak roared, "They're the ones who attacked me! Dark Jak took control because they were attacking us!"  
  
"Not according to their story," Ashelin replied.  
  
Jak simply stared at her. "THEIR story?" he said blankly, "You're saying they're alive?"  
  
"One of them is. We found him unconscious in a ditch shortly after we gathered you up. According to him you hit him with a board."  
  
"After HE attacked ME!" Jak spat, "I was just walking when he snuck up behind me and tried to crack my head open! I seemed insane, he called me 'murderer.'"  
  
"We got that much out of him," said Ashelin. "According to him you, or most likely Dark Jak, killed his and his gang's families."  
  
Jak groaned and put his hands over his head. In a way they had been just like him a year ago. They had wanted revenge for what Dark Jak had done to them like he had wanted revenge for what Praxis had done to him. He thought back that year ago. Who knew how many innocent people Dark Jak had slaughtered as he fought through the Krimzon Guard? How many had been caught in his Dark Bombs or Blasts? How many had he killed?  
  
"Jak," Ashelin began softly, but a crackling on her radio interrupted her. She reached down to her pocket and pulled out a red communicator. She flipped it open and spoke into it. "Go ahead." She said quickly.  
  
"Governess," began a mangled voice on the other end, "This is Alpha Team reporting from Metal Head Nest. We have found reported location in Metal Head Leader Lair. We have sent several probes into the reported Dark Eco. Our findings were...disturbing."  
  
"Disturbing...how?" persisted Ashelin.  
  
"Well...er," stammered the voice. "It's freaking weird, man!" came another voice from the communicator, "It's like a freaking city map down there. The shit's spread all around under the city like a trail of freaking crap! It's like" – There was a loud "Ooph" and the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.  
  
"Er, sorry about that, Governess," said the voice, "that was one of the new guys. Apparently he hasn't learned to treat his superiors with respect."  
  
"Continue, Lieutenant," said Ashelin impatiently.  
  
"Er, yes," said the lieutenant, "we found that there are hundreds of underground rivers spanning for miles under the city."  
  
"How deep are they," asked Ashelin worriedly.  
  
"At least six hundred meters," said the lieutenant.  
  
Ashelin sighed. "That's not deep enough to cause any harm."  
  
"Don't be so sure, Governess," said the lieutenant, "we also discovered signs of the rivers flowing up towards the city recently. Only one actually reached the surface at the west city wall. Exactly where the Metal Heads attacked."  
  
"Are you suggesting that the Metal Heads are TRAVELLING through these rivers?" Ashelin asked feverishly.  
  
"That is our only theory so far. The thing is that we have located the source. It comes from the north. Far, far to the north. I'm sending you the coordinates now." The communicator bleeped. Ashelin studied it for a moment before responding.  
  
"Thank you lieutenant. Governess out." Ashelin dialed in another frequency then placed the communicator to her ear. "Captain Brutter? I need two of your best transport balloons. We're heading to the following coordinates."  
  
"Ooh! Ooh! Brutter get on it right away m'lady!" said an all-too-familiar voice over the communicator. "Brutter be ready in seconds!"  
  
"Thank you, Captain," then Ashelin turned off the communicator. "Jak, me and the Krimzon Guard are heading north."  
  
"Then I'm coming too," said Jak, sitting up. He winced slightly from the pain in his leg.  
  
"Jak, your staying here to heal."  
  
"The hell I am!" Jak leapt out of the bed, only to find that he was wearing nothing but his underwear. Ashelin smiled slightly. "If you insist on coming...but get dressed first, will you?" Without a second glance she walked out the door. Jak dressed quickly, and was still pulling his pants on as he hopped out after her.  
  
Ekobean: Well, here you go. And for all two of you who have been asking, YES GOL AND MAIA WILL BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!! Enjoy. R&R. 


	5. Chapter 5: An Old Enemy

Ekobean: So finally I have decided to write Chpt. Five of Dark Menace. If you value your life, you will read this thoroughly. You won't find any secrets or anything; I just want you to because I like to threaten people. Enjoy.  
  
(special thanks to Shadowsister for including me in her fanfic. It was awesome!) (  
  
Chapter Five  
  
The chill morning air fluttered harshly through Jak's hair. The sun had hardly begun to rise when they had set out. Now the sun was beginning to paint its tapestry of radiant colors upon the blank canvas of the sky.  
  
Jak's loaded and cocked Scatter Gun was clasped firmly in his hands. His crystal-blue eyes scanned the surrounding environment. The Lurker Brutter was standing bipedal with his massive hands clasped behind his back at the front of the balloon. He, Ashelin, and Torn were going over some plan they'd been thinking of.  
  
Jak looked down through the uneven layout of nailed together wooden planks that formed the carrying platform of the Lurker balloon. He could see through the badly placed boards down to the land below. They had to be at least two hundred feet in the air. In all his time he had never been in a Lurker balloon before. He couldn't help feeling mistrust toward the contraption. Frayed ropes tied around the platform held the balloon to it, and an outdated, rusty motor was the only thing that was providing thrust in the back.  
  
A cry of frustration filled the air, as there was a sound of some large, metallic object being kicked. Jak looked to the back to see Keira spouting curses at the rusted motor on the back. She had insisted on coming when her father had volunteered to come.  
  
Keira removed her oil-soaked mechanic gloves and her cloudy goggles. She walked over and sat down defeated next to Jak. "How's it going?" he asked. He didn't really care, but he had nothing else to talk about; and he didn't want the other subject that was bound to pop up to come...yet.  
  
"Not too well," Keira sighed. "I haven't worked on this model of engine since we lived back in Sandover! I'm just...kind of out of practice."  
  
"You'll get the hang of it," replied Jak, not looking at her. Keira sighed. "Here it comes..." Jak thought.  
  
"Jak, look," Keira began.  
  
Yup, Jak groaned in his head.  
  
"About the whole incident with those people, I just want you to know that I know it wasn't your fault. No one could ever understand what you're going through. The Krimzon Guard was bent on putting you away. The High Council is even voting to have you banished."  
  
"Is that so?" said Jak, trying to hide any sign of fear. He didn't want to be banished, who did?  
  
"Ashelin won't allow it, though," Keira continued, "She convinced the Council of your condition. She said that she would watch you and everything."  
  
"And when did this happen?" asked Jak, turning two her.  
  
"While you were in the hospital."  
  
"Well, how long was I in there?"  
  
"Three days."  
  
"WHAT!!??" Jak bellowed, leaping up. "You're shitting me! Three days? How the hell did that happen?"  
  
"We were puzzled by it, too," said Samos, who had just floated into the balloon. "The scientists found that your body is developing a gland that let's loose any trace of Dark Eco that is in your body into your bloodstream."  
  
"How the hell did that happen?" asked Jak.  
  
"Well, obviously it happened while you were undergoing the – erm – experiments. Apparently your natural ability to harness the power of Eco helped you to develop a way to cope with the Dark Eco inside you."  
  
"That still doesn't explain my being out for three days."  
  
"Actually it does, Jak," said Ashelin, "the gland isn't fully developed yet. Its premature use sapped almost every trace of energy inside you."  
  
"So, every time you blow your top, you blow some...uh...stuff," said Daxter, who had been sleeping inside Jak's satchel. Everyone stared blankly at Daxter. "What? I couldn't think of something to say. I just woke up, I mean" –  
  
"Daxter, shut up," Torn yelled over his shoulder.  
  
Daxter grumbled something as he stalked to the back of the balloon.  
  
"Governess," said a hazy voice over Ashelin's radio, "we are approaching the source of the Dark Eco streams." The group didn't need anyone to inform them of that. As they stared down at the land below them, they could see the ravages Dark Eco had caused. Plants and trees littered the ground, long dead. Dry streams could be seen twisting throughout the withered land.  
  
As Jak looked up from the floor he found an even more appalling sight before him. Four giant cylinder-shaped images formed on the horizon. The land about them was completely devoid of life. Even the very soil seemed tainted with darkness.  
  
The objects were obviously metallic, rusted Precursor-Metal plates melted together to hold the foul substance within. Jak didn't want to believe it, and he didn't want to look. But he did. He looked at it with wide eyes. He knew the place all too well. To him it had only been four years ago since he had visited it, but in this time it had perhaps been several centuries. The objects were the Dark Eco Silos.  
  
He looked next to him at Keira, Samos, and Daxter. Keira's hand was over her mouth. Samos was just staring blankly at the Silos as they approached ominously. Daxter's mouth was hanging wide open, his pupils shrunk to the size of a dime.  
  
"Oh no..." Keira whispered.  
  
"Is something wrong," asked Ashelin.  
  
"You don't know the half of it," Jak growled.  
  
The balloons landed several minutes later on the tops of the Silos. "Ashelin, we have to be sure of something," said Samos, "have your men pry the tops of the Silos open."  
  
"That's what we were going to do, Samos," Ashelin replied, "we were going to drop a probe in and see if we could find the opening...what is this place anyway. You obviously know something about it."  
  
"It is an ancient structure built by the Precursors to hold most of the Dark Eco of the world," said Samos.  
  
"Obviously the bottom has worn away," said Ashelin.  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't call it 'worn,'" said a voice from behind them. Jak froze. He knew the source of the voice. It's echoing, raspy call was burned into his mind. He knew its owner. The Dark Sage, the supreme authority on all Dark Eco. The man who had believed Dark Eco would not taint him, and the same man who had attempted to open the Silos and spill the Dark Eco upon the world. The man whom Jak had defeated along with his sister all those years ago.  
  
"It's more of a 'blast,'" said another voice, this one female.  
  
Jak turned along with the rest of the group. He saw the two creatures floating there, their clothes torn to ribbons, their hair wild and un-kept. They were Gol and Maia. The many years that they had been locked away in the Silos had obviously not been kind to them.  
  
"So," cackled Gol, "I see you have finally discovered our little highway under your city." "Who are you?" Ashelin demanded.  
  
"How rude of us," laughed Maia, "We are" –  
  
"Gol and Maia," finished Samos, "The Sages of Dark Eco, the two people who attempted to destroy the world centuries ago, the two who captured me and the other three sages."  
  
"Samos?" whispered Gol, awestruck. "Is that you? It's been so long and yet you've aged so little, not that it's saying much."  
  
"Why did you come back!?" yelled Jak, stepping forward.  
  
"Jak" – stammered Samos.  
  
"Why couldn't you stay down there were you belong? Why can't you just die!?"  
  
"Who are you, boy?" asked Maia.  
  
"You don't recognize me, do you?" Jak sneered, equipping his Blaster, "maybe I can refresh your memory."  
  
"Wait!" cried Gol, floating towards Jak, "yesss, I remember your face...it's you! The one who destroyed our robot, who sent us into the Silos."  
  
"Yes, I recognize him," said Maia, baring her teeth.  
  
"Why are you attacking our city?" said Ashelin, pushing past Jak.  
  
"Your city, we have discovered, is the mightiest of this area. Its people are the most strong-willed, who may get in the way of our cause."  
  
"And what cause is that?"  
  
"To open the world to Dark Eco," said Maia, throwing her arms into the air, "to make it realize the beauty of it!"  
  
"Oh come ON!!" said Daxter, "not all that mumbo-jumbo again! Last time you tried that, you got your asses kicked."  
  
"How do you expect to overtake our city?" asked Torn.  
  
"Why, haven't you figured that out yet?" asked Gol, "a portion of our army has already attacked your city."  
  
"Metal Heads," sneered Ashelin.  
  
"Yes, the Hora-Quan," said Maia, "I'm sure you have already discovered their new attributes. The ability to withstand Dark Eco? To use it to increase their power. With them we will crush your precious city."  
  
"So you've got a few jacked-up Metal Heads, whoop-de-do!" shouted Daxter, "bring 'em on, we can take 'em!" Daxter found Samos' staff again across his head. He fell over, unconscious.  
  
"Oh yes," hissed Gol, "a few..." he lifted his hand and passed it across the horizon. It was as if a veil had been lifted from the withered land. The land seemed to glow with yellow stars, as if the ground had become the night sky. Everyone felt the same feeling of helplessness as they looked down upon the shining points of light. The lights were Skull Gems. They covered everything, the ground was thick with them. They stretched across the plains, past the field of sight.  
  
"Oh my God," croaked Torn. Daxter feinted a second time.  
  
"We will give you time to prepare your defenses," said Maia, "we shall attack your precious city in three days. Three days before death comes for you."  
  
"Now be gone!" bellowed Gol. Every person on the Silos scrambled back to the balloons. Every person except Jak.  
  
"I beat you once, I can beat you again," he spat.  
  
Maia hovered down to within an inch of his face. "As you can see, boy, things are different now..." she slowly hovered about him, taking in every detail of his character. "You have become a man," she giggled, "I will especially enjoy killing you when your city falls."  
  
Ekobean: I know, I know. This one seems kind of rushed. And it is. I'm writing this in the middle of the freaking night. I promise that the next one will be better. R&R. 


	6. Chapter 6: The Calm Before the Storm

Ekobean: So, as you can see, things aren't going so well for Haven City. Gol and Maia are going to attack the city with an army of thousands of Metal Heads who are high on Dark Eco in three days. I hope you like the next chapter.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
"Get moving!" yelled Ashelin over the commotion of the workers. The dust and sand of the Slums were airborne as hundreds and hundreds of elf feet stomped through carrying the latest high-tech weaponry. In just two days, Haven City had been transformed into a fort of guns and defense.  
  
The palace was covered in guns; every point had a Red Eco cannon here or a sentry robot there. Every square inch of the security wall was covered in Yellow Eco lasers.  
  
Inside the Palace, volunteers were being given Morph-Guns. Men and women alike were lined up in a line two miles long, shifting nervously, barely speaking. Torn and Brutter were sitting at desks inside, taking down names and ages. The volunteers would then be sent to the arms room where weapons and armor were applied and basic instructions were given.  
  
The entire army, which consisted of 30,000, was split into five groups, one for each side of the city; and a large group for the middle section. The group to guard the north and the south were made up of Krimzon Guard. The parts to guard the east and west were made up of mixes of civilians and new recruits. In the center of the city was a group of 5,000 Krimzon Elite (Krimzon Guard with yellow armor), which were lead by Ashelin and Torn.  
  
General Mogg, an old and experienced general led the large group to the north, while Sig lead the group to the south. Jak, surprisingly, was made the commander of the squadron of volunteers on the west side. Last but not least, the squadron to the east was lead by a young female warrior who had recently graduated from the military training of Haven City. Jak had heard very little about her, but he knew her name was Shady. Shady Sis it may have been.  
  
They had just one day until Gol and Maia's attack. The six generals were seated tensely around a table in the top of the Palace. A holographic image of the city was floating from a small projector on the table's surface.  
  
"So, Jak," said Ashelin, "I want your men guarding this entire section. No Metal Head gets through the wall, no one gets under you. The same with all of you." Five heads nodded in agreement.  
  
"Governess," said Shady in her Australian-style accent (imagine that), "I don't understand why we put the civilians on the front lines. They have very little experience, and will most likely panic the moment the siren sounds." Ashelin sighed.  
  
"I am aware of that, Shady, but we are extremely short on troops. This is the only way we could set up the army so that all sides of the city were guarded."  
  
Shady nodded and sat back down in her chair, her brow furrowed in thought.  
  
"So, is it agreed?" asked Ashelin. All the leaders nodded. All of them knew the odds, and they weren't good. There were so few of them compared to Gol and Maia's army. They would do their best in battle, till the very last person was standing. Their thoughts were interrupted, however, by a panicky voice that rang out through the cavernous hall of the throne room.  
  
"Governess! Governess!" cried Dr. Veseer as he crashed through the door of the entrance.  
  
"What is it, Veseer?" asked Ashelin. Veseer straightened himself and fixed his glasses before continuing.  
  
"I have been doing a lot of work at the Power Station lately, managing the security walls, making sure that everything was operational."  
  
"Yes?" said Ashelin impatiently.  
  
"Anyway, I was doing this when all of a sudden the sensors went completely berserk. I looked into it and found...MASSIVE quantities of Eco under the city!"  
  
"We already know that, Doctor," said Ashelin.  
  
"No, no, no! Not Dark Eco, normal Eco! All four kinds right under the city!"  
  
"What?" Ashelin cried, "how could we not have found it before? The sensors have never picked them up before."  
  
"Well, they are all at least six hundred meters below ground."  
  
"That explains it," Jak said simply.  
  
"Governess, I think they're the Eco springs."  
  
"It would make sense," said Samos, who had just entered the room, "I know the Eco Springs exist, but I never knew where. It would make sense for Mar to build the city above the Springs, so incase he ever needed them" –  
  
"Like we need them now," finished Ashelin. She then turned to Veseer. "What is their position?"  
  
"Well," stuttered Veseer looking over his notes, "according to my calculations they're located just around the lowest section of Mar's Tomb."  
  
"It figures," Ashelin moaned, "Mar's Tomb is a maze. I would just make sense that what we need most is around the bottom part of his tomb. I'll send men down to search for it. Hopefully they'll be able to find it before it's too late. If we have that much Eco we may have enough ammunition to hold back the Metal Heads."  
  
"Ashelin, wait!" cried Samos, "there may be another use for that much Eco." Jak turned to Samos. He didn't know exactly what the Sage was suggesting, but he had an idea, deep in the back of his mind. "We could create White Eco."  
  
"Yup," Jak thought.  
  
Ashelin laughed unsurely. "Samos, usually I agree with your statements, but here I'm afraid I can't. White Eco is a myth, everyone knows that. Even the Precursors didn't" –  
  
"Write about it, yes," interrupted Samos, "but that doesn't mean that they didn't see it."  
  
"Samos," began Ashelin.  
  
"It does exist, Ashelin," said Jak, standing up. Everyone turned to Jak. He felt slightly uncomfortable under their staring eyes. "I've seen it, and so has Samos, Daxter and Keira...and so have Gol and Maia."  
  
"And Jak is the only one to have used it. In fact, I believe that Jak is the only one able to use it." It was Samos' turn to feel uncomfortable as all eyes turned to him. "There is a Precurian Prophecy that states that: 'When Darkness rises beyond all bounds, Light shall become Day, and bring Darkness to the ground, Yet only Light may become Day, and all others may fade away.'"  
  
"What does it mean?" asked Sig.  
  
"Well, I believe that Jak may be the Light described in the Prophecy. I think that it means that if anyone else besides Jak tries to use White Eco, they may, well, 'Fade away.'"  
  
"So Jak may be our only hope for saving the city," muttered Ashelin.  
  
"This is deep stuff," said Shady, "I'm going to bed." Without another word she got up from the table and left.  
  
"I'll order four of my men down into His tomb," said Ashelin, "and I think that we should all take Shady's advice, especially you Jak. The Metal Head forces arrive tomorrow, and if Samos is right, we'll need you more than ever."  
  
The leaders slowly departed from the table. Jak walked slowly down the street to the Industrial area. So, just like that, he would be the savior of the city? This was going to fast, and his brain hadn't fully processed it. How could this be happening?  
  
Jak walked in through the front door and threw his shirt off and sat down on the bed. He sat there for several hours in a trancelike state. He was going over so many things in his mind. He didn't react when he heard the front door open, or when he heard Keira call his name. He didn't look up when she walked in the room and touched his face gingerly. "Jak," she said softly, "Daddy told me all about what you talked about. Listen, I believe that you can do it. You've defeated those psychos before, and you can do it again. Listen, whatever happens tomorrow, I'll be there. I'll be fighting with you. I believe in you."  
  
Jak looked up into Keira's pure, clear eyes. They slowly leaned in and kissed. Her arms slowly wrapped around him and they embraced. He wrapped his arms about her waist and returned the kiss. The night was theirs.  
  
The air outside was cold and silent. The stars twinkled like shining tears in the black face of the night. The calmness of the city could have calmed anybody to sleep.  
  
It was the calm before the storm.  
  
Ekobean: I worked a lot on this one. I hope you liked it. If you're a pervert you can imagine that they did stuff at the end. If not, you can imagine something else. Go ahead! I won't be mad...much. Read and review!!!!!!!!!! (  
  
To Shadowsister: Recognize anyone? :-D 


	7. Chapter 7: The Battle for Haven

Ekobean: It's the moment we've all been waiting for. Gratuitous violence!! YAAAAAAY!! Big war scene, people screaming, heads crushed, you get the picture. Yay violence!!  
  
Chapter 7  
  
The siren woke the city early the next day. Startled citizens leapt from their beds in fear, dressing in their armor and manning their weapons. The siren was like a sudden scream that rent the calm night air asunder.  
  
Great waves of people swirled about the maze of passages that was the city. Jak and Keira left the bed immediately. Keira donned her thin red Krimzon Guard armor, while Jak put on his tunic. Both grabbed their guns in unison, Jak with his Morph-Gun and four barrels, and Keira with her Red Eco rifle. Without speaking the two slowly made their way through the tidal wave of people marching to their positions. Jak took his position at the west side of the city, while Keira took hers farther back the two embraced again before separating.  
  
The action seemed to go too quickly. Everyone was in their positions, shifting nervously as the dust about them settled. The city was eerily calm, even the wumbees and yakows in the other sections of the city couldn't be heard. It seemed as though the very ground felt the tension of the moment.  
  
Ashelin's voice boomed over the loudspeakers atop the Palace. "To all brave people fighting for this city: The Metal Head army is in view over the city walls, less than a mile away. Though many may rush bravely into battle, all will not survive. This is it, the battle for the city begins. I have one thing to say to you all: If we are to give our lives to these bastards, we give them hell before we do!" (no, I have never seen The Matrix Revolutions, why would you think that?)  
  
A great cry rose up about the city. People cheered and clapped for several minutes before the previous tension set in again. Jak's Peace Maker felt slippery with sweat in his hands. He heard the heavy breathing of his sections behind him. The other commanders were not faring to well either. Sig was staring stony-eyed at the wall, unblinking; grinding his teeth together nervously. Shady had her hands clasped tight around the two powerful Red Eco pistols in both hands. Mogg was slamming his fist into his other hand nervously.  
  
Ashelin and Torn were both staring at their squadron of unflinching Krimzon Elite, thinking back into the past, before all this had happened. How had it come to this? Ashelin nervously spoke into her radio. "Ax," she said, "have you made any progress?" Ax was the leader of the company exploring Mar's Tomb. He was a husky man or about six feet. He never really talked much to anyone.  
  
"Not yet," came Ax's low-voiced reply, "this place is a natural maze. We've come across several doors that we've had to blast open. Most were filled with giant spiders and dead ends. We've got two more to go."  
  
"Be careful," replied Ashelin, "according to Jak and Daxter there are other things in there besides spiders."  
  
"Thanks for the warning, Governess. Will do." There was a small 'click' as the radio was turned off at the other end.  
  
Ashelin looked over at Torn's tattooed face. He was staring out into the distance, his blue eyes reflecting the light of the morning sun as it slowly began to rise over the city walls. "Are you alright?" she asked uncertainly.  
  
"What?" asked Torn, not looking over to her.  
  
"Are you alright?" she repeated.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" he rasped back.  
  
"I don't know, you just seem a little..." she trailed off.  
  
"An army of Dark Eco-powered Metal Heads led by two Dark Eco-powered psychopaths is about to attack the city. Why wouldn't I be a little on edge?" he looked over at her and gave her a rare smirk. Ashelin smiled smugly back. She then turned the frequency on her radio to the one that all commanders' radios were set on.  
  
"Commanders," she said importantly, "are your sections in position?"  
  
"All set," grunted Sig.  
  
"Fine here," came Mogg's stern reply.  
  
"Huzzah!"  
  
"Was that a 'yes' or a 'no,' Commander Sis?"  
  
"That was a 'yes,' Governess," replied Shady. There was a muffled "You cow," added on afterward.  
  
"How about you, Jak?"  
  
"Everyone's here, from what I can see" –  
  
"Hey, govey!" Daxter interrupted, "while we're waiting here, can we have a couple of drinks?"  
  
"Not now, Dax," Jak growled to the Ottsel on his shoulder.  
  
"What? I was just trying to" –  
  
"Quiet!"  
  
Ashelin rolled her eyes, then changed the frequency to 6.54, the Palace's frequency. "Veseer, what can you see?" Doctor Veseer was surveying the surrounding Wasteland for any sign of activity using the Palace's cameras.  
  
"Nothing yet," Veseer said shakily, "everything seems normal – WAIT!! OH NO! They're coming! They're coming!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"  
  
"Doctor!" Ashelin shouted, "which direction? Where are they coming from?"  
  
"Er – er...um, from the – uh – from the west."  
  
"Jak," she said into her radio, "they're coming to your location."  
  
"Got it!" replied Jak.  
  
"NO WAIT!!" cried Veseer, "they're coming from the east! No north! South! Oh god, we're surrounded! There are thousands of them!! We're gonna die!!"  
  
"All commanders! All commanders!" Ashelin thundered into the radio, "the Metal Heads are coming from all sides! Prepare for battle now!!" Ashelin turned to Torn who was staring glassy-eyed at the city wall in the distance. "Ready?"  
  
Torn cocked his Vulcan Fury, which made a brief charging sound. Grinning, torn looked over at Ashelin. "As I'll ever be."  
  
Five minutes passed before clues that something big was coming began showing up. A rumbling sound began to reach the ears of the inhabitants of the city, like thunder roaring across the Wasteland. Loose rocks and pebbles began to shake and jump as thousands of Metal Head feet came closer and closer.  
  
The men and women behind Jak and Shady began to twitch and shake nervously. They began whispering to each other and look around wide-eyed. "Steady," Jak shouted back to them.  
  
"The commander said steady!" came Tess' voice somewhere within the ranks of volunteers. Daxter smiled smugly.  
  
"That's my girl," he said dreamily.  
  
Two minutes passed before Veseer's voice broke out over the Palace's loudspeakers. "Half a mile, I repeat, half a mile until the Metal Heads reach the city!"  
  
"Ready weapons!" Jak roared to his troops, cocking his Peace Maker. The uneven clicking of weapons being cocked followed almost unostentatiously. Jak's gun felt slick in his hands. Sweat beaded on his brow and under his goggles. Daxter was biting his nails nervously.  
  
Out of nowhere there was an enormous explosion outside the city walls. The city shook violently as the explosions passed. "What the HELL was that, Veseer?" Ashelin spat into the radio.  
  
"The Metal Heads have some kinds of weapons," replied Veseer, "they're firing at the city walls. They're still standing but I don't know how many blasts the walls can take!"  
  
Jak looked wide-eyed at the walls as another blast racked the walls. Two more blasts occurred ten seconds apart. A crack began to form at the base of the wall. It grew with every blast, slowly moving up the wall like some thin serpent. Jak noticed this in the nick of time. "Everyone take cover now!" he thundered. Everyone in the company flung themselves into ditches, stoops and doorways. At that very second there was an almighty explosion as chunks of three-foot-thick rock and electrified metal flew into the area where just seconds before hundreds of volunteers had been.  
  
Animalistic war cries flooded through the opening as Dark Metal Head after Dark Metal Head flooded through it. "The wall is breached, the wall is breached!" Jak yelled into the radio. He flung himself out into the path of the Metal Heads, slamming the first one he saw across the head with the butt of his gun. It was the first time he'd seen Dark Metal Heads. Their size and build seemed to have been increased slightly through the Dark Eco injections. They seemed much more animalistic and predatory. Some had maws with row upon row of uneven, dagger-sharp teeth. Others were more reptilian, crawling on all fours sporting five-inch-long claws.  
  
All of them had a deep purplish color and an aura that seemed to pulsate in the humid air of the morning.  
  
JAK  
  
The Metal Head that had been struck screeched in surprise as it was hurled backward. Jak heard shouts as his company followed him into battle. As the frontlines of the two sides collided, a pandemic uproar followed. People and Metal Heads flipped over each other in the shear force of the impact. Jak ducked under an energy scythe that would have taken his head clean off a second later. He tripped the bearer, a burly Metal Head with a tan bandana around its neck. The moment it hit the ground it was torn open by the flurry of Vulcan Fury bullets that rained down from Jak's gun.  
  
He looked into the carnage happening before him. They were severely outnumbered. An unceasing river of Metal Heads flowed out of the mouth at the break in the wall. But the elves were fighting back. Jak could see a large group of people in a formation with their backs to each other, guns pointed outward. Metal Heads were falling quickly, thick oily blood leaking from the gun wounds they inherited from the formation.  
  
Jak looked up just in time to see a fist coming towards him. It collided with him with great force, nearly cracking his ribs. He was sent flying backward ten feet landing on his back. He coughed up several droplets of blood. The blonde elf looked up just in time to roll out of the way of the Metal Head's next attack. He rolled out of the way of its fist, which left a large dent in the concrete. Jak pulled out his Peace Maker and let the enormous humanoid Metal Head have a fully-charged dose of Peace Maker power.  
  
The pulsating sphere of electricity exploded on collision with the Metal Head's chest. The creature was carried fifty feet backward and collided with several of its comrades.  
  
A wall of Metal Heads charged him a second later. Jak and several other men knelt down and unleashed a wave of Vulcan Fury bullets towards the attackers. The creatures fell backward, arms and legs flailing about.  
  
A Metal Head grabbed Jak from behind, attempting to smother him with an enormous bear hug. Jak wiggled and tried to break free of the deadly grip of the creature. A slow, guttural choking escaped the creature's throat that had to be laughter. Jak's vision became blurry as the oxygen was squeezed from his lungs. A single shot of Red Eco flew from somewhere in the bloody battle. It struck the Metal Head between the eyes. Shards of shining Skull Gem fell around Jak as the Metal Head fell lifeless to the ground.  
  
A moment later Jak felt himself tripped by a lizard like creature. Its rows of uneven teeth glistened in the sunlight; drool dripping in between them. The creature reared up on its hind legs and shakily began to run at Jak. Jak simultaneously charged the creature. The creature made a grab for him, but he was already airborne. Jak flipped in midair and landed a hand plant on the Metal Head's broad shoulders. He did a midair flip, spun around as soon as he hit the ground, and broke the creature's neck in one fluid motion.  
  
TESS  
  
Tess slashed several attacking Metal Heads across their faces with her knife. She had not too long ago lost her gun to the hands of a Metal Head with an energy sword. She was now using the knife Torn had given her in her days with the Underground.  
  
Tess' training in the Underground was serving her well. Though she didn't appear to be extremely skilled on the outside, she believed she might have been able to hold her own against even Jak. Tess narrowly avoided a sword slash by a thin Metal Head with a glowing long sword. She somersaulted under the creature's outstretched arms and sunk the blade deep into its intestines. The creature shrieked as a fountain of blood squirted from its wound.  
  
Tess picked up its dropped energy sword and ran one creature through that was strangling a small man. Tess observed the ongoing carnage and tried not to look as several people were ripped apart by two sadistic creatures. Then she noticed something else. In the distance she could see Jak. He was in a deadly bear hug with one large Metal Head. He looked on the verge of passing out. Without thinking, Tess grabbed a Red Eco pistol from the hands of a man next to her. She aimed and fired one shot that flew towards the Metal Head. In one perfect shot the Metal Head's head was shattered.  
  
Tess smiled and continued fighting. Though she had plenty of energy left, she didn't know exactly how much more she could take...  
  
The battle had just begun. Outside the city walls were wave upon wave of Metal Heads. Somewhere in the very back Gol and Maia hovered observing their work. "Isn't it wonderful, dear sister?" gasped Gol, "as soon as Haven falls, nothing will stand in our way. We may have failed once, but not again. The world WILL know the beauty of Dark Eco!"  
  
"I simply cannot believe the foolishness of these people," laughed Maia, "why would they not make alliances with other cities? You never know what may happen..."  
  
The brother and sister laughed at their own cleverness. Haven's defenses were falling rapidly. The walls had been broken on all sides. Sig, Mogg, Jak, Shady, and Ashelin were all battling the Metal Heads. Too many people were falling at too great of a rate. Soon, the city would fall...  
  
Ekobean: gasp, gasp Sry it took sooooo long. I have had a lot to do over these few days. Sorry about the ending, it's hard to write stuff like that. Look for the next chapter soon, I hope. You know the drill, no flames, lotza reviews, and something new.  
  
Recommendations: I recommend Shadowsister's "Fire's Child" and "WWWWWTHAOMG." It's really funny. Also I recommend "Demons and Angels" by Keaton the Black Jackal, and "Sanity" by Flaming red dragon. Ok, that's it. Thx fo everything. 


	8. Chapter 8: The Retreat

Ekobean: I guess you could call this part two of "The Battle for Haven" chapter. But I couldn't fit all that crap into one chapter. So here's Chapter Eight of Dark Menace...or Part two of "Battle for Haven"  
  
Also, look for Shady Sis' big part. I hope u like it, Shades!  
  
To Queen Simia: Thanks for the grammar lesson.  
  
The battle raged on for what seemed to be millennia. Jak had accumulated a wide assortment of battle scars in just a few minutes. The Dark Eco had increased the Metal Heads' strength and speed two fold. He was barely able to dodge their attacks. He felt the Dark Fire slowly rising up in him. He tried to fight it back, tried to hold it down as hard as his will was able. He felt the monster's rage and its bloodlust. He forced it down to the very corner of his mind, simultaneously fighting physically and mentally.  
  
At the moment Jak was in a one-on-one duel with a dinosaur-like Metal Head carrying a shock rifle similar to those the Krimzon Guard used. Jak flipped to the side, narrowly dodging the sizzling bolts of red lightning that erupted from the head of the rifle. Regaining a strong posture he charged the Metal Head. It barely had time to react as Jak plowed head first into its chest. In one quick move Jak rammed his bleeding fist into the monster's nose. He felt its nose crunch under his fist.  
  
Jak got up from his latest kill and leaned up against the nearest building, panting desperately for air. He surveyed the battle from his viewpoint. They were severely outnumbered; the purple glowing aura was growing stronger and larger, slowly moving forward as his section was being forced back to the center of the city. Yet the bullets continued to fly in a never- ending flurry, the air was alive with the sounds of bullets whizzing through and of people dying.  
  
Jak wiped a small dribble of blood that was leaking from his split lip. Without another thought he equipped his Blaster barrel and charged back into the fray. He tripped one Metal Head that had gotten too close to the line of slowly retreating elves. It caught several Yellow Eco blasts in the face a split second later. With Jak in the front lines the people seemed to gain more confidence. Red Eco charges seemed to fly faster and in greater numbers while Jak was in front. He could feel the deadly beams of Red Eco flying past him, coming so close that one almost singed his ear.  
  
Clouds were beginning to form overhead. Thunder rumbled like a stampede of wild Yakows in the distance.  
  
Still rapidly pulling the trigger, Jak reached into his pocket and flipped on his radio. "How're we doing, Ashelin?" he yelled into it.  
  
"Badly!" came Ashelin's muddled reply, "Mogg's army is completely obliterated! Metal Heads are streaming into the city. If another commander falls we'll be destroyed from the inside out. We're doing our best to hold them off but – HOLY SHIT!!" there was a crackled sound of blasters being fired in the background.  
  
"What!" Jak called anxiously, "Ashelin! Ashelin!!"  
  
"I'm alright!" Ashelin said shakily after a few seconds, "Sig is still managing to keep them at bay on his side, but Shady is being pushed back."  
  
"The same here with us," Jak said, "the citizens' inexperience is costing us."  
  
"Agreed. I'm afraid that if another section falls we may have to retreat."  
  
"To where? You said that the Metal Heads would kill us from the inside out! There's nowhere we can retreat to!"  
  
"There may be..."  
  
"If you're thinking the Tomb there's no way! Ax and his men are still down there, and if the Metal Heads find the Eco Springs Gol and Maia will destroy us for sure!"  
  
"We may have no choice. Hold them back for as long as you can!"  
  
(Two hours later)  
  
Jak spat blood from his mouth. The Metal Head has hit him hard in the gut. He felt as if his insides were going to explode. He could see the Metal Head standing triumphantly above him, its energy sword raised above its head. It let out a long laugh as it swung down the sword. Jak cringed and closed his eyes tight, not wanting to see the final blow come.  
  
There was a shot from behind the Metal Head and a loud screech. Jak looked up just in time to see the creature fall limply to its knees with a clatter. He caught sight of one perfect hole seared through him.  
  
Jak looked up from the lifeless carcass of the creature to his savior. There, her body silhouetted against the fading light of the sun, was Keira. Her armor was battered and sliced, her Krimzon Guard helmet had been knocked clean off, and there was a nasty-looking cut across her face, yet she was alive.  
  
Jak stood up to meet her. "My hero," he said teasingly to her. Keira smiled slightly as she stared him up and down from his bloodstained pants to his severely torn tunic.  
  
"You look a little worse for the wear, Jak," she replied matter-of-factly, "looks like I found you just in time."  
  
"Whaddaya mean?" the quivering lump that was Daxter said from Jak's satchel, "I've been right behind him the whole time!"  
  
"Oh, I believe it," Keira mused.  
  
Jak's radio crackled as Ashelin's mismatched voice rang over it.  
  
"...Eds...oke...rough," she said, "...ant...f...ore...!"  
  
"What was that Ashelin?" Jak yelled into the radio.  
  
"I said the Metal Heads have broken through," Ashelin literally screeched over the radio, "we can't hold them off anymore! Shady's army is too broken up to fight anymore, so we have to retreat to the Tomb."  
  
"Have Ax and his men found the Eco springs yet?"  
  
"I checked with them a minute ago. They found a room about three hundred meters down that was blocked up with rocks, so they were about to blast. I'll give you more detail later, retreat to the Tomb now!"  
  
"Keira, we have to retreat to the tomb."  
  
"I heard."  
  
"Fall back," Jak yelled, "retreat to Mar's Tomb! We have to retreat back! Go, go, go!!"  
  
The cobblestones and asphalt of the city streets were pounded with thousands of feet retreating to Mar's Tomb. People were thrown into the air as missiles and bombs fell into the city. Buildings, homes, and shops were toppled with earth-shattering crashes, crushing everyone underneath them.  
  
About halfway to the tomb Jak suddenly realized something. Metal Heads were drawn to two things the most, Eco and Precurian artifacts. There was only one Precursor artifact Jak knew of that was inside the city, the Oracle of the Water Slums. "Keira," Jak said grabbing her by the wrist, "I have to do something."  
  
"Jak," she shouted back, "we have to get to Mar's tomb!"  
  
"I know, but I have to do this. Please, don't argue, it's important. I'll get there, I promise!"  
  
Keira looked up at Jak. His crystal blue eyes reflected the light of the fading sun. His once boyish face had been made rough and hard from battle. She could see something else in his eyes. He was desperate for something, and though she didn't know what it was, she knew he had to do it. "Ok," she said, "but be careful. I'll be waiting."  
  
Jak kissed her lightly on the cheek, then turned and ran off in the opposite direction. He was heading for the water slums. As he made his way through the endless wave of panicking citizens he could make out small shapes of Metal Heads in the distance. After several minutes he reached them. They had several citizens captured in their midst and were proceeding to torture them. Jak nearly vomited as he saw two of the overpowered citizens firing vainly into the faces of the Metal Heads as they were torn to pieces by their attackers.  
  
"Hey!" Jak cried as he ran forward towards the Metal Heads. The creatures turned their heads toward the sound of this new meal, hissing with glee. They began to slowly crawl around Jak, long strings of saliva dripping from their gaping mouths. They charged as one without any warning. Jak had barely enough time to react as he leapt a staggering ten feet into the air, twirling in midair whilst firing Yellow Eco blasts from his Blaster. All four Dark Metal Heads were dropped with precise holes cut through them in several places.  
  
Jak continued to run on to the Water Slums. His feet slammed down on the wavy wooden pier causing it to creak and shake dangerously. He could see deep into the murky depths of the polluted water. He could see small objects moving, perhaps some kind of mutated fish. Jak made a sharp left towards the shrine that the Oracle was locked in, only to find several Dark Metal Heads clustering about the door, unceasingly scratching at it, trying to break in. Jak wasted no time in dispatching the pitiful creatures. The rock door slid open the moment the Metal Heads were killed. Without a second thought Jak slipped inside.  
  
He was immediately greeted with the flickering light of dying candles, and the iridescent glow of the Precursor Oracle itself. Its metal body was crafted into the shape of some strange elephant-like creature. Two hollow eyeballs that had once held Power Cells were set in the Oracle's cranium.  
  
"Ho...Dark Warrior..." growled the Oracle in its deep, rich voice, "you have returned in this time of deep crisis."  
  
"I had to come to protect you," said Jak, "if the Metal Heads find you they'll tear you apart."  
  
"I have lived one thousand lives of elves. I have seen great civilizations rise to power and fall just as quickly. Perhaps it is my time."  
  
"No," said Jak firmly, "I won't let it happen. I have to protect you."  
  
"This is not the only problem that troubles you, Dark One. I sense that your mind is clouded with confusion; great wisps of deceit cloud your very being. You wish to know the outcome of this war."  
  
"Well, yes," the elf sighed, "so many people are depending on me, and this prophecy that Samos has come up with."  
  
"Yes, Samos the Green Sage recalls the most ancient of all prophecies. The Greatest Battle of Day and Night, yes; this war will end at its coming."  
  
"Will we win?"  
  
"I cannot see this."  
  
"Bullshit!" spat Jak, "you're an Oracle! You see the future, and you damn well know how this is going to end!"  
  
"No, Dark One, there are some things that not even I can see. But I can tell you that before this day is over the future of this world will be in your hands or the Night's."  
  
"Gol and Maia."  
  
"Yesssss," hissed the Oracle, "and I believe that now is the time you acquired the last Dark Power."  
  
"The last one?" Jak questioned, "you already gave me the last one. Dark Giant, remember?"  
  
"No, this was not true. The last Dark Power is for the battle. Use it only when Darkness seems to consume your very being, and all hope seems lost. You must use it then and only then." Without warning a long trail of purple lightning shot from the Oracle's trunk. It embraced Jak lifting him into the air. He clutched his head, twitching from the stings of the Dark Power seeping into his being. Unlike all other givings of Dark Powers, Jak did not revert to Dark Jak form. "I give you the power of Dark Twin. Remember my words."  
  
Jak looked up dumbfounded at the glowing creature before him. He reached his hand up to touch the carefully crafted metal of the Oracle. He had so much more to ask it, so much more he needed to know. But at that very moment the door shook again. The rock began to crumble as Metal Head claws were forced through it. "They come," rasped the Oracle, "you must go now. Leave me here, for my time has come."  
  
"No," said Jak, rising from the ground, "I may not be able to protect you, but I can hide you!" Jak drew his Vulcan Fury and shot the rotting wood about the Oracle's base. There was a muffled splash as the Oracle sank quickly into the murky depths of the Water Slums. An enormous hole lined with sharp, splintered wood was all that remained from where the Oracle once stood. Not a second later there was a thunderous crash as several enormous Metal Heads broke through the Oracle's door. The shattered rock landed just short of Jak's feet.  
  
The Metal Heads looked up at the thin elf standing were just seconds before, and ancient Precursor artifact had stood. The candles about the room wavered slightly as the elf charged the Peace Maker in its hand to its full capacity. "Sorry," the elf said in a mock-casual tone, "you just missed him." Without another word the elf let go of the trigger. The pulsating blue aura arced and split, obliterating the Metal Heads completely.  
  
[several minutes later, Mar's Tomb]  
  
Everyone covered their faces as tons of ancient, carven rock caved in upon itself. Sig had blasted the entrance to the Tomb with his Peace Maker, hopefully delaying the Metal Heads' entrance.  
  
"That's that, I guess," said Sig.  
  
"But how long before the Metal Heads break through," asked Jak, who had entered the Tomb a minute before the group decided to blast the entrance.  
  
"Well, judging by how much rock fell, a damn long time," replied Shady.  
  
"Don't be so sure," muttered Ashelin darkly. The governess reached into her satchel and plucked out her battered radio. "Ax?" she asked, "are you there yet?"  
  
"We're still on the fucking staircase!" shouted Ax, "the thing goes on forever!"  
  
"Listen Ax, you have to keep going. We've retreated into the entrance hall to the tomb, and it's only a matter of time before the Metal Heads break through."  
  
Ax groaned heavily on the other end. "All right, all right, we'll pick up the pace as much as we can." There was a light 'click' as the radio was turned off at the other end.  
  
"So now what?" asked Daxter nervously.  
  
"I'd say we wait," Samos suggested wisely.  
  
"Yaaah! When'd you get here?" asked Daxter suspiciously.  
  
"I decided to join the retreat to Mar's Tomb in stead of wait out the war from the underground roads. I have forever wished to look upon the splendid wonders of Mar's Tomb."  
  
"But daddy," Keira wined, "it's too dangerous!"  
  
"I was worried about you, Keira."  
  
There was a sudden resounding crash that shook the very pillars of the cavern. The one-foot of water covering the expanse of the tomb shook violently as several more crashes were heard.  
  
"What the hell!?" cried Shady.  
  
"It's the Metal Heads," muttered Tess.  
  
"Everyone listen!" Ashelin yelled over the building commotion, "I want Jak and Shady's groups to go through the right doorway (Second Test of Manhood), and Mogg and Sig's groups to go through the left (First Test of Manhood)! My group will hold off the bastards for as long as we can! Go!"  
  
"I'll stay here with Ashelin," stated Samos firmly. There was no time for arguing.  
  
There was much panicked screaming as the two parties split off between the two doorways (tests of manhood). Jak and Shady ran side by side, both leading their companies on. Shady and Jak seemed to be of equal physical fitness, both were able to traverse the great obstacle course of traps and puzzles.  
  
Hieroglyphs and majestic scenes of battle were etched into the walls of the tomb. They seemed to come alive with the dying flutter of the licking flames that lined the walls, lighting the way. They passed many barred doorways. The expanse beyond seemed foul and foreboding. It had a musty smell, and if you stopped to listen, you could swear that you heard something breathing.  
  
"Cheery place ol' Mar has, ain't it?" Shady huffed.  
  
"Sure is," Jak laughed back.  
  
The two companies finally reached a large square room. There was a small colored tile in the center, resembling rolling waves. Jak's radio crackled. "Jak, Shady!" yelled Ashelin over the radio, "it's too much! The Metal Heads have broken through and there are too many of us to fight. Our hope is in Ax's hands now. You must hold out until he gives the signal."  
  
"Yes, Governess," Shady barked into the radio.  
  
"Wait here," said Jak.  
  
"Are you crazy?" thundered Shady, "they're coming!"  
  
"Trust me!"  
  
Several minutes passed as the remainder of Jak and Shady's groups filed into the room, puffing and sweating. Not two minutes later the Metal Heads entered the room. They entered slowly, as if savoring the fear of their trapped prey. Strings of slime oozed from their maws of crooked teeth, their small glowing eyes surveying their surroundings, looking for any possible trap.  
  
Come on, Jak thought urgently, just a little closer. He rubbed the small stone in his hand from behind his back with his thumb.  
  
"Jak, if you're going to do something," whispered Shady, "you'd better do it soon."  
  
The Metal Heads were roughly a foot from the button in the center. Without warning Jak tossed the stone at the tile. In his haste however he failed to aim and ended up knocking a Metal Head in the middle of the head. "Shit," he cursed to himself. This was all the enticement the Metal Heads needed. They sprang into action, their jaws wide open Jak pulled out his blaster and fired on the attackers. Every elf behind him followed his lead. In seconds the room was alive with shots flying between the two sides.  
  
The walls were singed and burnt where ill-aimed shots had hit the walls. Jak rolled between the legs of one creature and kicked him from behind, sending him sprawling to the floor. Jak righted himself and fired fifty Vulcan shells into the Metal Head's back. Close combat was obviously one of the Metal Heads' strong suits. In a small room there was very little room to fight.  
  
Screams erupted from within the room. Metal Heads were scaling the walls and climbing on the ceiling, dropping down on any and all unsuspecting elves. They had to stick together and beat them down. Jak's eyes searched for Shady's red jumpsuit somewhere in the fray. After beating his way through several Metal Heads he found her across the room fighting off several burly foes with one small Red Eco pistol and her rifle, which she was using as a club.  
  
She cartwheeled to the side, narrowly avoiding the claws of an extremely vicious looking one. She twisted about and railed the Metal Head off guard in the head, shattering his Skull Gem.  
  
Two charged her a second later. She did a no handed flip backward; firing two blasts while flying backward. The Metal Heads were sent hurtling through the air, landing some ten feet away in precarious positions. Large holes were blasted in their chests.  
  
Shady's (whatever color Shadowsister's hair is) hair waved in the momentum of her jump. She tripped another creature in a kung-fu style move and plunged the sharpened barrel of her rifle through his head.  
  
Though she faced almost certain doom, Jak had to stop and admire her for a moment. She certainly knew what she was doing. He then continued to rush in to assist her. He leapt onto the back of a lizard-like creature broke its neck. He then vaulted off of it and spin-kicked above Shady to slow himself. He landed next to her in a crouching position, blasting another Metal Head that got too close.  
  
"Shady!" Jak shouted over the sounds of battle. He threw his arm out to Shady, who grabbed on firmly. Jak then, with as much strength as he could muster, hurled Shady about him like a chain. Shady kicked any Metal Head who dared to come forward straight in the face. Jak let go and Shady fell to the floor and rolled to her feet. She ran back to Jak and stood with her back to his.  
  
"Pretty limber," Jak commented.  
  
"Is it over!?" Daxter screeched from inside Jak's backpack.  
  
"Shady listen," Jak said to her, "did you see that tile in the middle of the room? We have to press it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Just trust me. You're faster than me, so I'll clear a path for you. You're gong to have to be quick though, and whatever you do, do not fire your gun." Shady nodded.  
  
Jak pulled out his Peace Maker and sent several blasts towards the rows of Metal Heads between Shady and the tile. "Go!" Jak roared.  
  
Shady was gone before Jak had even said anything. She was a red streak against the purple of the surrounding enemies. She dove forward, body straight and narrow like a spear as she flew through the air. Her hand landed on the tile as she hit the ground. There was a distinct rumbling. Jak looked up above him to see a dozen or so small beetles fall from hidden compartments in the tall ceiling. They flew down and scurried about.  
  
Several elves drew their guns fearfully. "DO – NOT – SHOOT!!" Jak shouted to them. The people reluctantly put their guns away and began slowly backing to the wall. The confused Metal Heads looked about at the pizza-pan- sized beetles scurrying about in no seeable pattern.  
  
"Are you sure about this?" Shady asked Jak.  
  
"For the last time, Shady, trust me."  
  
It seemed to happen on cue. One of the beetles exploded after being stepped on by a Metal Head. The shocked Metal Heads drew their guns and began firing rapidly at the scurrying creatures. "Everyone get down!" Jak yelled to the few remaining elves. All elves ducked not a moment to soon. The walls seemed to melt away as a new wall of spikes were revealed. The Metal Heads looked about in confusion. All at once the foot-long spikes flew from the wall, passing with ease through all creatures in the room.  
  
It was all over in seconds. The shish kabobed bodies of Metal Heads lay in ruin throughout the beetle-room. Oily blood flowed out in a wave into the center of the room.  
  
All of a sudden a door opened up. It was not the normal door that opened if the puzzle was solved correctly. It was a hidden door, revealed only after the first wall had melted away. The room within it was pitch black, and a rank, vile smell rose up out of it.  
  
"Go," Jak whispered. He knew that more Metal Heads would be coming. This was not all of the creatures that had followed them. "Go!"  
  
The few remaining elves, tired and war-torn, marched into the mysterious door, unable to find any other way out.  
  
Ekobean: GOD THANK YOU!!! This chapter gave me hell! Nine and a half pages!! There was so much to write. I know that you can tell that I sort of got sloppy at the end because I was so freaking tired of writing this chapter. Anyway, read and review. And look for the ninth chapter soon. The end is very near. 


	9. Chapter 9: Reunited

Ekobean: Sorry it has taken so long to do this. I have been on vacation in Alabama this whole week! So anyway, bla bla bla. Here's chapter nine.  
  
It was impossible to tell exactly how much time had passed since the events in the bug room. Jak could hear the few remaining members of the sections breathing heavily as they groped their way along the wall. There was absolutely no source of light, and it was impossible to tell where the tunnel was leading.  
  
Jak had fired several Yellow Eco shots ahead for light, but no end could be seen.  
  
Jak felt a pair of hands wrap around his arm. "Jak?" whispered Keira.  
  
"Keira," he acknowledged.  
  
"Do you have any idea where this leads?"  
  
"None."  
  
There was utter silence for the longest time. No one spoke for fear of alerting any unfriendly residents of the tunnel. The walls began to feel slimy with moss. Water could be heard dripping from cracks in the ceiling. "I don't like this," Daxter whispered.  
  
Time rolled by. Perhaps hours had passed, and the company was weakening drastically. A small point of light was barely visible in the distance. It seemed no smaller or fainter than a pinhead yet, it was the only source of light, and the company was moving toward it.  
  
Out of nowhere there was a light 'boom.' Dust fell from cracks in the ceiling. The 'booms' came again and again. It felt like they were coming from the direction of the point of light. "Come on!" Jak yelled back. The company groaned, but followed their leader as best they could manage. His pace was quick and light, and even Shady was having trouble keeping up with him. The point grew steadily larger, even as the sounds grew louder and more resounding. After an eternity the point became what appeared to be a doorway. Jak covered his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the rays of light rolling in from the chamber.  
  
Jak looked down at the horror before him. He found himself standing in a window about twenty feet from the ground. It was part of a large chamber that may once have been place filled with riches. More and more people gathered behind Jak and looked down at the scene beneath them.  
  
A lone figure, which happened to be Sig, was standing alone amidst hundreds of mangled corpses of allies. He was surrounded by Metal Head, who were taking turns attacking. Sig was badly injured. His normally shining armor was scratched and dented, an enormous gash bled freely on his arm, and his right ear tip hand been hacked clean off. He had obviously ran out of ammo a while ago and had resorted to using his Peace Maker as a club to keep the attackers at bay. But still he was fighting a losing battle. A snakelike Metal Head scuttled up behind him and tripped him with its tail. The others, roughly twenty five, charged in as well.  
  
This was all that Jak could stand. Without the slightest warning he dropped down from the window, firing streams of Vulcan bullets into the backs of unsuspecting Metal Heads. The other elves followed his lead. In no time the air was again alive with Red Eco beams flying from barrels. The Metal Heads were bunched together, and were unable to form an affective defense. In no time at all every last one of them was slaughtered.  
  
Shady ran to the crumpled for of Sig, carefully stepping around the pulped bodies of Metal Heads. She knelt down beside Sig and gently shook him. Jak and the rest of the company gathered around him. "Is he dead?" whispered Tess.  
  
"Back up," Shady said, "give him some air."  
  
Sig groaned slightly. A small stream of blood was trickling from the right corner of his mouth, his good eye was swollen and unfocused.  
  
"Sig?" Jak whispered, "Sig, can you hear me."  
  
Sig groaned again, and his eye began to focus on Jak's face. "'Bout time you cherries got here," he muttered.  
  
"Sig, what happened?" Shady asked, shaking him more roughly.  
  
"We were...oh...ambushed. The fucking Metal Heads came up behind us. Me and Mogg were at the front. We heard screams so we turned around. Those bastards were slaughtering everyone. We tried to amount a counter-attack, but the hallway was just too narrow. Before long it was just Mogg and me. They carried him off a little while before you came."  
  
"Everyone's dead?" Keira whispered, horrified. Sig only managed to nod.  
  
"Which way did the Metal Heads come from?"  
  
Sig pointed to a passage to the right. "The way that we came. I'm guessing that Ashelin fell since we haven't been able to reach her."  
  
"We have to keep moving," Jak said, "if the Metal Heads came from that way, then we'll have to go this way." There were two openings in the chamber, the way that Sig pointed to, and another to the left. Shady lifted Sig up, keeping him steady on her shoulder. "Let's move."  
  
Flickering flames, casting ghostly shadows that danced along the rough sides of the hall, lighted the hallway. The hallway did not branch off into other doorways, but went in one straight line. Before long the company reached a large door. Hieroglyphs of what appeared to be Metal Heads being struck down by the sun were etched along its surface. As the company cautiously approached the door, there was a rumbling sound. Before their eyes the door lifted up into the ceiling by some unseen force.  
  
"Come on," Jak commanded.  
  
"Hold on, Jak," said Daxter. The Ottsel leaped out of Jak's satchel and scuttled quickly to the rest of the company who were still standing in the hallway. "I'm watching your back," said the Ottsel, pointing a finger at Jak. However, the moment Jak stepped into the room, the door closed with a sudden snap. There was no warning, it just ran down and closed him off from the rest of the company. Jak sprinted back to the door. He pushed on it and tried to even lift it, but it showed no sign of lifting. Jak pounded a frustrated fist on the stone door.  
  
"Shit!" he whispered.  
  
Jak surveyed his surroundings with what little light was provided. He found him self in a dark, cavernous room. The ceiling was hundreds of feet above him, and was held by massive pillars twenty feet in diameter. There was one long path before him with what appeared to have once been a red carpet rolled along it. Jak did not know what this place once may have been, but maybe it had been where Mar's death was mourned, and where services were held.  
  
"Well, well; what have we here?" cooed a voice behind him. Jak spun around to face the owner. There, frail and bent, was Gol. "It seems I have you all to myself," he cackled, "you are pathetically predictable."  
  
Ekobean: Sorry about the severe crappiness of this chapter. I rushed it to get it out and make up for lost ground. Sorry again. Anyway, as you may guess, the next chapter consists entirely of Gol getting the ever-loving snot beaten out of him by Dark Jak...or vice versa. You shall just have to wait and see! 


	10. Chapter 10: Dark Jak vs Gol

Ekobean: This one I've really been excited for. I'll do my best on it and not rush or give that feeling that I wrote it like I didn't care too much. So please enjoy this pure-fight chapter.  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
Jak could barely make out Gol's shape in the surrounding Darkness. The only sources of light were two small torches on each end of the room. "You are pitifully predictable," Gol chuckled, continually hovering lazily around Jak in a tight circle.  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you."  
  
"The moment I woke up from that dark tomb, the first thing my dear sister and I thought about was that moment that you condemned us to it." Gol clutched his chest and took a deep intake of air before continuing. "But in a way, I thank you for it. All those years trapped in close-contact with Dark Eco gave us powers beyond anything we could have imagined."  
  
"So what do you want with me?"  
  
Gol smiled wickedly before responding, "Revenge. You see, although we gained these powers, it was many a painful century. You stopped our plan the first time. The world would have realized the beauty of that beautiful substance. You took that away from the world. So here I will destroy you, for I fight for the world's behalf."  
  
Jak whipped out his Vulcan in an instant and fired several shots in Gol's direction. Due to the darkness, each shot was a pure guess. He heard the shots fly through the air, but none of them hit home. "What's the matter, boy? Can you not see?" Gol's voice was behind him! Jak whipped around, Blaster pointed straight at the source of the voice.  
  
Jak was thrown through the air in one swift motion of Gol's hand. Charges of purple lightning encompassed his rigid body. Jak landed face-first into one of the enormous pillars. He heard and felt the stone crack under the force of his body. He fell to the ground seconds later. Dust and rock particles covered his face and hands.  
  
The room was spinning. Jak felt sluggish and dizzy. He leaned up against the pillar for balance. Gol's thin hand wrapped around his neck and lifted him easily from the ground. He groped for his gun, only to find that it had fallen from his hand. Gol's nails were like claws, sinking into the flesh of his neck. He could make out a blurry image of Gol's face, illuminated by the purple ball of energy steadily growing in his hand. "Goodbye, boy," cackled the cracked sage.  
  
He threw the ball of Dark Energy into Jak's chest. The power carried him clear across the room and straight into a wall. Jak's body created a massive hole that went in at least ten feet. Giant cracks webbed up the walls of the hall. For the longest time there was only silence. Gol began to laugh. He had done it. He had killed the person who had imprisoned him for all those centuries. It had been too easy, without the aid of Eco the boy had been next to nothing. No, LESS than nothing!  
  
Just then Gol caught something. It was some sound...the sound of rocks shifting. Gol's bloodshot eyes turned to the hole in the wall. One bloody hand rested on the rim of the hole, and slowly the rest of the body emerged. Jak clutched his ribs painfully; blood ran from his lower lip. Yet, to Gol's confusion, a smile was slowly creeping across the elf's face. "Gol," he rasped, "you've just made the biggest mistake of your life." He closed his eyes tight, and six more words escaped his mouth before the changes began: "Say hello to my other self."  
  
Gol noticed a great change in the air about him. It almost seemed to thicken, like the air on a humid day. Jak leaned over and growled in pain. Gol then noticed the changes occurring. Great bursts of purple electricity surged forth from his crumpled form, shattering anything that they leapt to. His skin quickly began to pale, and dark sprouted from his white hair. His clothing stretched as his muscles grew greatly in size. It's canines became fangs, and his nails pitch-black claws. His pupils grew and completely overtook his eyes, leaving them as pools of pure darkness.  
  
Gol stared for the longest time before speaking. "Hah!" he cried. "You finally see the beauty of Dark Eco! You and I, creature, should not be enemies! We are like brothers, you and I, kindred spirits! What do you say? You, my sister, and I...we could all convert the world to our liking. What say you?"  
  
Dark Jak, to his truth, gave his honest answer. In one fluid motion he scooped up a fragment of rock and threw it straight into Gol's chest. Gol was thrown backward through a pillar and to the ground. "I take this as your answer!" he shouted, and disintegrated the rock. As quick as lightning Gol was on top of Dark Jak, pummeling him from every direction.  
  
Dark Jak howled and grabbed Gol by the wrists and used his own momentum to carry the sage over himself and slam him back first into the stone floor which crumbled under him. Gol rose quickly from his self-shaped imprint and rose into the air, hurling ball after ball of Dark Energy. DJ somersaulted to the side and climbed lizard-like up the nearest pillar. He then leaped off and tackled Gol. The sage flipped around in midair and kicked Dark Jak down beneath him. Dark Jak fell to the ground with the sage landing foot- first on top of him, driving him deeper into the stone.  
  
Gol lifted him with both hands around his neck and fired a bolt of Dark Eco straight into his face. Dark Jak was carried backward several yards. However he flipped around in midair and landed on his feet. He shook his head and charged Gol and full tilt. Dark Jak did not hold back at all. His claws slashed away at Gol's limbs and robes. He gave one final punch in the face that threw Gol clear across the room.  
  
With a howl of pure rage, the sage went airborne, flying at such as speed straight towards the demon. Every punch and kick was charged with energy, every one of them thrown as hard as possible. Dark Jak didn't allow Gol to land one hit. He ducked under the insane old man and smote him in the stomach with his shoulder. He ran ant full speed with the sage slung over his shoulder. He ran through several pillars with Gol taking every ounce of the punishment. He took Gol off of his shoulder and butted him in the head with his own. Gol flew backward, but was caught by his hair with the creature's arm, who in turn spun him around and threw him into the ceiling.  
  
Several rock fragments fell where Gol hit the ceiling. His limp and nearly lifeless body plummeted down to the ground. Dark Jak hit it in midair with his foot. Gol was carried to the far side of the room. He could hear Dark Jak charging...  
  
Just then he noticed a large fissure not fifty feet away. He could see that it went down pretty far. Maybe he could lure the creature into it...Dark Jak was right on top of him! Or FORCE him! Gol caught the creature in the chest with his legs and threw him head-over-heels behind him. Gol was up in a flash and threw the demon straight towards the fissure.  
  
Dark Jak stopped just on the brink, teetering dangerously forward and then back. Gol forced him in with one swift punch. Something happened at that moment, however, that Gol did not intend. Dark Jak grabbed Gol and pulled him down with him. This, however, was Dark Jak's biggest mistake. The two were now in midair, where Gol was most accomplished in fighting.  
  
Gol used his ability of flight to zoom around the creature, pummeling him from all sides while Dark Jak flipped around helplessly. It didn't help matters either that Dark Jak was now transforming back into Jak. Jak was now conscious in his mind, though Dark Jak still controlled the body. Jak knew the creature's mind. He knew that it would fight until they hit the bottom.  
  
Jak took advantage of the creature's weakness. He began to force the changes in mind to come faster than the changes in body. He would need Dark Jak's strength to stop himself. He heard a cry of rage in his own head as the creature was forced into his subconscious. With Dark Jak's body Jak grabbed hold of Gol for one instant and punched him as hard as Dark Jak was able. Gol spun helplessly upward while Jak divebombed downward. He raked his claws against the stone, desperately trying to slow himself.  
  
He suddenly came to a screeching halt in a large hole in the side of the wall. His arm was wrenched from the socket. He masked a yell of pain and hurled himself up into the hole, hoping the darkness would hide him from Gol's rage. Not ten seconds later Gol flew downward, a string of curses following him.  
  
The moment Gol passed Jak lifted his arm and allowed the arm to slide back into place. There was a 'pop' as the arm slid back into the socket. Damn it hurt. Jak surveyed where he was. The hole seemed to actually be a tunnel, leading deep into the rock. With no other alternative Jak began to steadily make his way into the pure darkness of the tunnel.  
  
Eko: Well there you go. Dark Jak v.s. Gol is now done. I hope you liked it. And since I'm not going to mention it in later chapters, the tunnel leads to a pool where those weird froglike things that attack you when you get into the water are. Didn't you ever wonder where those damn things kept coming from? Read, review, no flames. 


	11. Chapter 11: The Unwelcome Regrouping

Ekobean: So, from here on for a while the story is switched from Jak's point of view to Keira's until Jak finally reappears.  
  
Chapter 11  
  
"Jak!" Keira squealed. Keira ran to the door and pounded on it with her bare fists. "We have to get him out of there!"  
  
"That door is two feet thick at least, how do suppose we do that?" said Shady.  
  
"Sig," Keira whispered desperately, "please, shoot the door down."  
  
"I don't have any ammo left," Sig groaned.  
  
"We can't leave him in there!"  
  
"Keira I know how you feel, but I don't see any way to get in there."  
  
"There's gotta be a way!" Daxter said.  
  
"I don't see one."  
  
At that moment Shady's radio crackled. Shady lifted the latch of her satchel and searched noisily for the small radio. "This is Shady," she addressed importantly when she finally found it.  
  
"Thank Mar you're still alive Shady," came an exhausted reply. It was Ashelin.  
  
"Goddamn, I never thought I'd say this, but am I glad to hear your voice, Governess," Shady breathed as she clutched her chest. "What's your status?"  
  
"Not well," Ashelin said sadly, "most of our company are dead. The few remaining members are either wounded or too exhausted to fight."  
  
"How did you escape the Metal Heads?"  
  
"We didn't. When most of us were dead they all just tensed up and left. Torn and a few Elite are watching the entrance, but we can't survive another assault."  
  
"Why would they leave?"  
  
"We believe they are getting ready for another attack. We have to regroup, it's the only way to hold them off long enough for Ax to hopefully find the Springs. We lost contact with him some time ago, but as long as we have Jak we can hopefully find them." Shady's ears twitched nervously at the mention of Jak.  
  
"Where do you wish to meet, Governess?"  
  
"The main hall as soon as possible. Ashelin out."  
  
Shady sighed and turned off the radio. "You heard her," she said after a moment, "let's move."  
  
"What about Jak?" Keira asked, clearly suppressing a great fury.  
  
"Keira, there's no way to get in there. Even shooting the door bit by bit would take months to get through. We have to regroup."  
  
"You're the one who's telling Ashelin that we lost the blonde kid," said Sig. Shady gulped nervously.  
  
(12 minutes later)  
  
"WHAT!!??" Ashelin's outburst echoed throughout the main entrance hall many times over. Several bat's flitted about in fear at the top of the cavernous hall.  
  
"Governess," Shady squeaked fearfully, "I just" –  
  
"You knew as well as I did that Jak was the ONLY one who could use White Eco!"  
  
"According to that old green fart! Does he know for sure? No!"  
  
"That's my father," Keira spat acidly.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"I just can't believe you would allow Jak to go in there alone!"  
  
"He moved without warning, and the door closed fast! There was no way I could've gotten him out in time, you cow!"  
  
"I knew I made a mistake when I appointed you commander, Shady." Shady shot forward and caught Ashelin around the neck with her hand.  
  
"Say that again."  
  
"Shady..." Sig said warningly.  
  
"Say it."  
  
"Shady."  
  
"I said say it!" One moment later Shady was on her back with her head under two feet of water with Ashelin's foot down hard on her neck.  
  
"Never tell me what to do." Shady struggled as hard as she could. Air bubbled rose from her mouth in a silent yell as she desperately tried to lift her head for air.  
  
"Ashelin stop!"  
  
"Shut up, Torn."  
  
"Ashelin, what is wrong with you? You're killing her!"  
  
"I said shut up."  
  
Torn lunged forward and caught Ashelin around the waist, lifting her clear into the air. "Put me down!"  
  
Shady surged up from the depths of the clear water coughing and spluttering, desperately forcing oxygen into her lungs. Every guard had had their guns pointed directly at Ashelin, however hesitant to shoot their governess, now breathed deep sighs of relief.  
  
Several crowded around Shady making sure of her well-being. All attention now turned to a still writhing and screaming Ashelin. Even Torn was having trouble holding on to her. "Ashelin, I'm really sorry about this!" he yelled and butted her in the back of her head with his own. Ashelin's body fell limp. Torn gently set her down in the water.  
  
"I say we kill her," Shady stated angrily.  
  
"Are you insane?" said one Krimzon Elite.  
  
"That psychotic bitch tried to kill me!"  
  
"But it may not have been her fault. Look," said Keira, who had bent over Ashelin. She held up three small tube no longer than her smallest finger's nail. "These were stuck into her neck behind her hair, and if I'm not mistaken, they were pumping small quantities of Dark Eco into her."  
  
"What?" asked Torn worriedly, "but why?"  
  
"I don't know, but if I had the right equipment I could study her blood and see what damage has been done."  
  
"Uh, something tells me we don't have that kind of time," said Sig.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Listen." There was a distant rumbling that slowly grew louder with each passing second. Other sounds could be heard too. The sounds of beastly screeches.  
  
"Oh no," Keira whispered, "not now!"  
  
In one massive tidal wave, hundreds of glowing Metal Heads burst through the doorway.  
  
Ekobean: Sorry this took so damn long. I've had a lot to do. I know this chapter isn't very well written, but I kinda wrote this in a hurry. Please read and review, I really need reviews! 


	12. Chapter 12: Salvation

Ekobean: So, this chapter I promise will be an update from the crappiness of the last one. Like I said, I wrote that one in a hurry.  
  
The Metal Heads surged into the entrance hall like one of the tidal waves that would break upon the shores of Sandover Village. Every wall was crawling with the same glowing purple hue, every pillar and ceiling tile was crawling, as if the entire room were a sentient being. The very air was thick and humid in the presence of the Dark Eco infested creatures.  
  
The hundred remaining elves gathered into a tight circle, every gun drawn and locked on one squirming target. The elves could see perfectly in the normally gloomily lighten hall. The dark auras that resonated from the Metal Heads' flesh lit the room like a miniature sun. Keira's gun was shaking dangerously in her hands. The small experience of battle she had tasted on the surface and in the halls was a warm up compared to this.  
  
If only Jak, or even her father were there, they would give reassurance to her! Then something came to her mind that she had not noticed before. Where was her father? She had been too upset about the loss of Jak to notice that the small elf was nowhere to be seen. She would have asked if the situation were not so deadly.  
  
"What're you all standing around for!?" Torn shouted to the rest of the elves, "Fire!" On his one simple command the air was alive rapidly flying Red Eco beams. Metal Heads fell from every direction. They fell from the ceiling, from the pillars and from the walls, yet for every one that fell it seemed two took its place. One small sliver of hope began to shine within the hearts of every remaining elf. Though the Metal Heads possessed superior numbers, it appeared that they lacked coordination. If they kept this up was it possible that they could slowly chip them down until Ax hopefully found the burial chamber.  
  
That momentary hope was swept away in one swift move as the Metal Heads began to climb slowly from the walls, ignoring the death cries of their still-falling comrades. The water sloshed noisily between their feet as they slowly crept closer and closer to the desperately firing elves. Saliva oozed from their gaping, glowing jaws; snakelike tongues slowly moving across their lines of crooked teeth in anticipation. They were obviously expecting a meal. None of them even seemed to notice that the small patch of elves was firing now more than ever, and that more and more of their own kind were still falling from the stone rafters of the Tomb.  
  
They began to encircle the elves in a sickeningly slow movement. When the circle was complete they began to move in as one. The water splashed up in miniature explosions as their feet fell into it. The twenty feet that separated the elves from the Hora-Quan shrank dramatically.  
  
A flurry of clicks became audible amongst the endless sounds of gunshots and death screams. Both elves and Metal Heads knew what it meant. The elves were slowly running out of ammo. More and more clicks rose up from the flurries of gunshots. The Metal Heads were moving in faster and faster. Even their beady eyes seemed to glow yellow with hunger. As they moved in those who had hands drew their own weapons, wicked, curved blades, shock staffs, and other cruel implements of slow death. Not seven feet from their prize, the Metal Heads stopped. Every head whipped about. A wave of utter confusion seemed to have struck down upon the advancing forces.  
  
To the surprise of the elves, looks of moderate confusion and anxiety gleamed clearly in the soulless eyes of the creatures. And then suddenly in one swift motion every head turned to the entrance. They began shrieking and yelling in that direction almost in fits of panic.  
  
The Tomb's ceiling began to shake. Small fountains of dust fell down from the ceiling in many parts of the hall. There was sound, no, many sounds above like thousands of people beating drums. But these were not drums, they were footsteps of large, powerful creatures. The sounds suddenly moved to the elevator room. Whoops and grunts could be heard amongst the endless footsteps.  
  
What creatures could cause Metal Heads this much fear? The elves' questions were soon answered as the mostly apelike creatures paraded into the hall. Lurkers. The creatures rampaged into the Tomb much the same way as the Metal Heads. They moved as one, leaping from the winding ramp down into the glowing metal scourge below. Many Lurkers were impaled on Metal Head spears, yet they kept coming.  
  
Many Metal Heads were crushed with the first wave of creatures. Every Metal Head turned to try and mount an effective defense, but the Lurkers' brute force and the shear idea of a surprise attack pushed them back greatly. The presence of the Lurkers nearly tripled the defensive numbers.  
  
Many elves were hesitant however. Lurkers and Elves had never been friendly, and this could be an attempt at seizing the city for the Lurkers.  
  
Several species of Lurker could be seen within the bubbling turmoil of purple fur and glowing metal. Twenty-foot-long centipede Lurkers crawled about on the ceiling devouring any Metal Head that had dared to stay above. Small leaping Lurkers bit at the heels of unsuspecting creatures and destroyed them when they fell in surprise.  
  
As the elves stared in awe at their sudden good fortune, a familiar Lurker face appeared out of the rumbling sides. "Hello, citypeoples!" hooted Brutter who was causally spinning a severed Metal Head cranium on his five inch finger. "It looks like Lurker people come just in time."  
  
"Brutter, you da man!!" cried Daxter as he leaped joyfully on Tess' shoulder.  
  
"What wrong with Governess?" asked Brutter worriedly when he spotted Ashelin's limp body on Torn's shoulder.  
  
"Torn knocked her out," Daxter said casually while Torn shot him a deadly glare.  
  
"She was delirious," said Keira, "we think the Metal Heads were pumping small quantities of Dark Eco into her. We don't know why though."  
  
"Brutter have just the thing," muttered the bespectacled Lurker as he fumbled with a pouch on his belt, "we Lurkers make good medicine." He walked over to Ashelin and gently tipped her head up. A thick, pungent substance slid from the pouch and into Ashelin's mouth. Ashelin's eyes shot wide open and she leapt up spitting the black substance from her mouth.  
  
"Get that shit away from me!" she gasped.  
  
"Ashelin are you alright?" asked Torn worriedly.  
  
"As soon as I get this stuff out of my mouth I'll be fine," she said, still spitting the medicine from her mouth. She then looked about her for the first time to see what was truly happening, "what the...?"  
  
"After you flipped out and tried to kill Shady" – (Shady snorted and turned away) – "The Metal Heads came in and almost killed us. Then the Lurkers came and, well, here we are," Daxter answered.  
  
"Brutter, how?" Ashelin asked dumbfounded.  
  
"Brother Jak told Brutter to do it," said Brutter, "he ask 'Brutter, do you think we could get help from the Lurkers?' Brutter say 'No, Lurker peoples not want to help elves. Elves and Lurkers not like each other.' Then Jak think for a while before speaking again. He say 'Brutter, remember when me and Dax saved those Lurkers? Didn't you say that the Lurkers were indebted to us? Couldn't you say that...er...Brother Jak and Brother Daxter are in trouble and need help.' Brutter remembers and tries. Lurkers not want to help but when Brutter says that blonde brother and little orangey warrior are in trouble, Lurker Council say that we help."  
  
"So that's why you left," said Ashelin, thoughtfully stroking her chin.  
  
"Say, where are Brother Jak?" asked Brutter.  
  
Shady sighed before answering. "We don't know. He got, er, separated from our group. We haven't seen him since."  
  
Brutter's ears lowered slightly, "Oh no. Brutter hopes he's okay."  
  
"We all do," sighed Torn.  
  
There was a slight crackle as a signal came through on Ashelin's radio. "Gov – ess?" said Ax.  
  
"Ax! We lost contact some time ago. What is your progress?"  
  
"Er, we found it, Governess. The Eco is flowing right now. I – ow! – can't believe it. It – er – it's amazing. We are speechless."  
  
"Ax, are you alright? You sound shaky," said Ashelin.  
  
"I, er, just can't believe it. I'm programming the map into your radio now." There was a click as the radio went dead on the other end.  
  
"Come on!" said Ashelin.  
  
"Something doesn't feel right," muttered Sig.  
  
"What?"  
  
"He sounded nervous. It just doesn't feel right."  
  
"Sig, we are this close! Come on!"  
  
"Lurker peoples will hold off Metal Headers for you. Do good!" with that Brutter leapt with super human strength into the very center of the brawl.  
  
"Come on, let's go!"  
  
Without wasting another second the hundred elves raced off to the Burial Chamber of Mar and the White Eco within.  
  
Ekobean: Another chapter down the tube. Not many more to go. I hope you enjoyed this one, read and review! 


	13. Chapter 13: Betrayal

Ekobean: Chapter 12 I have to say I am very proud of. I hope this next one is as good and I hope you are happy with it, blah, blah, blah. The usual ranting.  
  
It was obvious that the hall had not been touched for a very long time. Several minutes ago the party had followed Ax's map to the doorway. It was located immediately after the doorway to the Second Test of Manhood, a narrow passage so tight that the company had to walk single-file through it. There were noticeable signs of Ax's recent use. Broken cobwebs and several useless flares were found on the damp floor as they moved on.  
  
The hallway had a musty smell, and a distinct dry feel to the air, even though it became extremely humid as they moved on.  
  
Ashelin was at the very front leading the charge. She was followed closely by Torn who had his twin Red Eco pistols drawn and ready. He was then followed by Sig who had to walk knees-bent and sideways, Keira, Shady, and then the rest of the company.  
  
Like so many tunnels in this maze of a tomb, the hallways seemed to go on forever. There were many unexpected twists and turns, and the worst part was that these obstacles slowed their progress dramatically. Ashelin was beginning to see what took Ax's party so long to radio back. Still it did not explain the loss of radio communication for so long...  
  
The company slowly inched its way forward, not daring to talk for fear of what they may stumble upon. They had learned to expect the unexpected in this tomb, you never knew what would jump out at you next. With every footstep they took a small feeling of upcoming malice grew in their hearts. In their minds something told them that terrible things were about to happen. Yet despite these warnings they pressed on, following their governess.  
  
The hallway opened up unexpectedly into gasp another, larger hallway. This one allowed them to walk side by side, and at the end a small glimmer of faint light could be seen. "Come on," Ashelin ordered. Without another word she began to sprint top speed toward the light. The point of light grew steadily. Ashelin glanced down at her map every few seconds to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. No, it was right. That point of light was coming from the burial chamber of Mar.  
  
Ashelin dove excitedly through the doorway with a yell of pure joy. They'd done it, in no time the city would be saved! They would find out how to harness the power of White Eco and wipe out Gol and Maia completely.  
  
Ashelin surveyed her surroundings. She found herself in a domelike room. It was roughly five hundred feet in diameter with a fifty-foot-wide walkway around the entire room. In the center of the room was a large crater, almost like a bowl. In the center was a small sliver of stone ending at the top with a platform. On top of this platform was what was unmistakably a coffin of thick stone. She could see small carvings of epic battles between elves and Metal Heads. Similar, giant carvings littered the entire dome. Metal Heads fighting elves, elves fighting Metal Heads. If Ashelin wasn't so horrified, she would have gasped in wonder.  
  
There was no White Eco. There wasn't any Eco, just the room. There was no sign of Ax or any futile attempt at all of rocks being blasted away. There was just the chamber and nothing more.  
  
"Oh no," Keira muttered, "something's not right here."  
  
"I told you something didn't feel right!" roared Sig.  
  
"I don't see any White Eco," Daxter said impatiently.  
  
"Is something wrong?" asked an overly calm voice that filled the entire room.  
  
Every head moved upward in horror to see both Gol and his sister Maia floating lazily in the air. "Everything seems just fine here."  
  
"No, no, no!" Daxter whimpered, "how the HELL did you two freaks get here?!"  
  
"Surely you haven't already forgotten our underground highway?" Gol snorted, "in case you have, it can take us anywhere in your beloved city, even the old boy's tomb."  
  
"But Ax, he said that they found the White Eco! He said" –  
  
"It's amazing what people will do once they're exposed to a little pain," Maia said casually, forcing several small bolts of purple electricity to dance about her upheld hand.  
  
"What have you done with them?" Ashelin growled.  
  
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Gol motioned upward to the very top of the dome. For the first time the company laid eyes on what was left of Ax's group. They hung in cruel positions from large chains about their legs. Every bit of skin was stripped from their bodies, and blood dripped freely from their fingertips. Their cheekless, lipless mouths hung open limply, and their lidless eyes had long since dried in the dry air of the tomb.  
  
Ashelin spun around and vomited, Torn quickly bent down to comfort her. "You bastards! You fucking sick bastards!" Shady screamed at the twisted sages. In one fluid motion she drew her Red Eco pistol and fired four precise shots at Gol and Maia. The siblings simply raised their hands and deflected the blasts which bent and flew around them.  
  
"Watch your manners, girl," Maia growled.  
  
"How did you find out about our White Eco project?" Keira inquired.  
  
"You should know of all people, daughter of Samos," Gol hissed, "you were there, after all, when the sages summoned the White Eco, and when your Jak absorbed its power. How he damned us to two centuries of hellish pain in the Dark Eco Silos. Though we did gather so much more power there, the pain was unbearable, even as we slept."  
  
"The rest was easy," mused Maia.  
  
"Once your city falls, the rest will fall," Gol cackled, "the power of Dark Eco will spread. We WILL open the Silos, and this land will be changed to our liking. The world will bow to us, the perfect rulers of a perfect world!"  
  
Daxter covered his face with his paw and groaned, "Ugh, don't they ever shut up?"  
  
No one, not even Gol, however, noticed that Maia was watching Gol with a look of extreme annoyance. She slowly began to hover, working her way behind a still ranting Gol.  
  
"So you see, you pathetic creatures," Gol continued, "you will make no difference in our cause. Once you fall, your city falls. Obstacles must be removed, don't you agree, dear sister?" Gol turned smiling to his sister, only to find her hand sticking palm-forward toward his face. A small smile was slowly creeping across Maia's tattooed, pale face. Several charges of Dark Econetic energy were encircling her hand.  
  
"Maia! What are you...?" Gol faltered.  
  
"Doing just what you said, 'dear brother.' Removing the obstacles." Without another word, and without even giving Gol the chance to argue, an enormous surge of powerful energy flew forth straight into Gol. The sage's body twisted and arched in almost impossible positions. He gave a sort of strangled scream that was suddenly cut short when his head was disintegrated on his shoulders. The now headless Gol fell limply to the floor ten feet from the group of shocked elves. His tattered robes fluttered slightly when he landed, and the rock beneath him sizzled as his poisonous blood seeped onto it. Maia crossed her arms and, smiling, gave a satisfied nod.  
  
Every person was speechless. Several people looked from Maia to Gol's decapitated form lying in a crumpled heap ten feet away. "Ok," said Daxter shakily, "why did you kill your brother?"  
  
"Gol never truly understood the purpose of Dark Eco," Maia said angrily, "true his powers increased greatly, as did mine, in those two hundred years inside the Silos. However, his mind obviously slept along with his body. Mine, however, was awake to feel my body twist and burn over the centuries. But I also had two hundred years to think. At first I thought about how a mere boy could have defeated us. But then as my mind grew wiser I began to think about the purpose of Dark Eco. I came to the conclusion that, though raw Dark Eco would destroy every living thing it touched, if Dark Eco were combined with life forms such as the Hora-Quan or myself, it could change them to our liking. Plus, a new power was added to our bodies, the ability to control Dark Eco. This is how we created the underground highways, how we moved them to our liking. And it is also how we controlled your governess."  
  
Ashelin gasped and clutched at the back of her neck. "Why?"  
  
"Oh, that was just an experiment that proved successful. You helped us prove that if Dark Eco was injected in small quantities into the bloodstream it would cause minimal damage, and there was just enough for us to control you. Gol was too pig headed to understand this. If I'd have made this known to him he'd have countered it. He believed that only with raw Dark Eco could the world be changed to our liking. But enough of this!" Maia raised her hands and conjured a small ball of Dark Econetic energy. "Submit willingly and I will add you to my collection of subjects painlessly. But if you refuse, you will meet your doom."  
  
"We will not submit to you that easily!" Ashelin yelled through clenched teeth.  
  
"As I said, your wills are the strongest. Very well, your fate is sealed!" the small ball of energy grew rapidly. It's shape wavered and twisted as it grew larger and larger. It was soon four feet in diameter. "Goodbye."  
  
The last of the Army of Haven city covered their heads. Some screamed, while some just waited, accepting that it was their time to die. Daxter was curled in a tight ball of Tess' shoulder. Seconds before the blast came down a large boll of electricity flew from the doorway behind them. It hit an unsuspecting Maia square in the chest. Maia was sent flying backward, screaming into a wall. The ball of destruction disintegrated in seconds, giving one final zap of energy before disappearing completely.  
  
The shocked citizens slowly turned to see their rescuer. There were two forms standing in the doorway. One was unmistakably Samos. And standing next to him, the barrel of his Peace Maker still smoking, was Jak with the biggest smirk they'd ever seen stretched across his face.  
  
Ekobean: Well, how's that for a plot twist? Ok, the end really is near now, ok? I hope you enjoyed this one. It's not as good as the last one, I don't think, but tell me what you think ok? Thx. R&R.


	14. Chapter 14: Dark Twin

Ekobean: Well, a lot has happened in a little time. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I hope that you like reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!  
  
Shadowsister, hey babe, you said you like graphic things. Trust me, I didn't greatly enjoy writing that, but 'twill all play out in the end.  
  
Jak had definitely looked better in his lifetime in his life. Almost his entire tunic was shredded and gone, there were specks of what appeared to be blood littering his blonde-green hair, and he had several deep, bloody gashes along his face and torso.  
  
"Jak! Daddy!" Keira cried, immediately running to the two. She quickly embraced Jak, who winced and hung his limp arm around her hips. She gave him a quick kiss then ran to her father. "Where have you been?" she asked, "we didn't know what to think."  
  
"I have been on the surface," replied Samos, "I was the only person whom Brutter told about Jak's idea. I was on the lookout for the Lurkers."  
  
"Well, why didn't you tell us?"  
  
"So the people of this city would not get too hopeful. Remember, Lurkers and elves are not exactly on good terms. Shortly after I entered the Tomb I found Jak crawling out of a hole in the corner of the entrance hall. I healed most of his wounds, but some will take too long, even for me."  
  
"What happened?" Keira asked Jak worriedly.  
  
"I'll tell you later," Jak wheezed.  
  
"Isn't this touching?" whispered Maia as she slowly floated out of the hole she had been shot into, "you caught me by surprise, boy. I see my brother did not kill you like he claimed to have done. How typical, yet not surprising."  
  
"Hey Maia," Jak interrupted, cocking his gun, "where is your brother anyway? We have some unfinished business."  
  
"Why don't you ask anybody here? They will tell you."  
  
"Jak, Gol is dead," said Shady, "that..." she shot a venomous glance at Maia "...thing up there killed him. Just like she killed Ax and his men."  
  
"You killed Gol?" Jak rasped, "you killed your own brother?"  
  
"Like I was telling your companions just before you, ahem, interrupted me, he did not truly understand Dark Eco. He" –  
  
"Yeah, yeah," said Daxter, "look Jak, Gol didn't 'understand' Dark Eco so she killed him. Can you just shoot her now?"  
  
"That last shot was my last bit of ammo, Dax."  
  
"Great," whimpered the Ottsel, burying his head in his arms.  
  
"Think, you've just come this far only to die," cackled the sage, "your Eco Springs will serve as power to my minions. No one will stand a remote chance against Dark Hora-Quan powered with Yellow and Red Eco! But for now," and she turned her gaze to Jak, "I will get my sole revenge on you."  
  
"You can try," said Jak, clenching his hands into fists.  
  
"Oh, but I am going to kill you last. You see, I find that if you are truly going to avenge yourself, you must first destroy your enemy from the inside out."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"All whom you hold dear to you shall die at your hands."  
  
"How do you expect to have me kill my friends?"  
  
"Boy, you do not truly think that I have not sensed it in you? Deep within your bloodstream, dormant in your simple, pathetic mind? That creature who always is threatening to rear its head, to use your body as its tool to destroy all within its grasp. Yes, the perfect tool for my revenge!" without another word Maia raised her gloved hand. There was a flash of brilliant purple light that shot out from Maia's palm. Seconds later Jak was kneeling on the ground screaming with his hands over his head. His skin was rapidly changing from pale then back to tan. His pupils dilated and grew.  
  
Keira instinctively began to run to him, but an enormous hand stopped her in her tracks. "Don't go near him," Sig warned.  
  
"I have to help him!"  
  
"I'm afraid he's beyond any of our help, Keira."  
  
"Daddy, can't you do something?"  
  
"I'm afraid things have been set into motion that cannot be undone."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The prophecy..." he whispered.  
  
Jak was tumbling downward. Black, angry mists were twirling about him, screams of anger and fear, all one confusing mass of dark energy. Jak landed on what appeared to be a solid floor of black marble. Someone whispered behind Jak. "Give it to me..." it whispered. Jak spun around to face the owner of the voice, only to find empty space. "I want it..." This one came from the side! Jak blindly threw a punch sideways, only to hit air. "Your body!" It was Maia, she was inside his head, trying to weaken him! He had to fight it, he had to stay focused. He was inside his own mind.  
  
There was another whisper, but this one was different. It felt warm, almost welcoming. And suddenly he recognized the voice, it was the voice of the Oracle. "Oracle..." he murmured.  
  
"Warrior. It is time, time to use the Dark Power I gave you."  
  
"Dark Twin?" he asked.  
  
"Yes," came the reply.  
  
"How?"  
  
"You will know, as with all your other Dark Powers your instincts will tell you. All the events in your past have lead up to this moment. Now is the time to fulfill the ancient Precursor prophecy and claim your destiny. But be warned, great warrior, once you initiate Dark Twin, you will fight an enemy whom knows you all too well." The voice and the presence faded from Jak's mind.  
  
An enemy he knew all too well? Well duh, of course he would face Maia.  
  
Jak concentrated hard and long deep inside his mind. He felt something dormant, something he had never touched before. That must have been the Dark Twin power. He forced it to emerge, to make itself known. His body tingled with a strange sensation.  
  
He regained consciousness in the real world. A great hole where a burning rage had once been was now empty. He no longer heard whispers in the back of his head, nor felt the presence in the back of his mind. Dark Twin had eschewed Dark Jak from his body! He was free, and there was no way for Maia to control him. He turned happily to the rest of the army, only to find them staring in a look of pure horror. He looked over at Maia, only to find a wide grin over her face. Her right hand was glowing with an eerie purple light. Jak's ears twitched and he heard something, barely audible. A sort of muffled breathing, almost like the panting of a dog, and it was coming from right behind him.  
  
Jak turned around to see a crumpled heap behind him, and as it slowly rose, he gasped in pure horror. "An enemy whom knows you all too well." That is what the Oracle had meant. And he wasn't talking about Maia. There, standing next to him, was Dark Jak. And as he looked at him with his pure black eyes, Jak noticed a grin exactly identical to Maia's. She was controlling a creature of pure Dark Eco.  
  
Ekobean: Well that's it. Another chapter will be coming soon with a desperate fight between Jak and Dark Jak. What will happen? You'll just have to find out. 


	15. Chapter 15: Prophecy Fulfilled

Ekobean: This chapter will tie up a few loose ends that I have had the liberty of using to my advantage in the story. This, I hope, will be a very exciting one.  
  
Before Jak could move or even breathe Dark Jak was on top of him, pummeling him from all sides. Razor sharp claws ripped and tore him at all angles. This whirled at such speed that even the shocked spectators couldn't see the fight clearly. Jak found himself lifted above the head of the monstrous creature and tossed twenty feet into a brick wall.  
  
Sig was up in a flash and sprinted to Jak's aid. Many other Guards began to follow but, "No!" Samos roared with a ferocity never heard in him before. "We must wait." He was watching Maia now, making sure she was fully concentrating on the fight. He then turned to Daxter. "Daxter," he said.  
  
"What?" Daxter said ruefully.  
  
"Your time has come."  
  
Daxter looked up at the sage in a confused manner before responding, "Watcha' talking about, old man?"  
  
"Listen to me Daxter," said Samos urgently, "every thing that has happened in our past are events that have happened for this moment. You became an Ottsel for this purpose. You must unblock the Eco Springs. If I'm not mistaken Ax and his comrades still have explosives on their belts. You must climb up to them, take their explosives, put them at each location of the Eco Springs, and set them off. You should be small enough that Maia won't notice you."  
  
"I ain't going up there!"  
  
Samos growled and then, using his telekinesis, lifted Daxter and flung him fifty feet towards the hanging bodies of Ax and the two others. Daxter, screaming, caught the wall nearly twenty feet away. "Awmanawmanawman..." Daxter whimpered. He was nearly hanging upside-down, and the near apex of the dome. He slowly began to climb toward Ax. Normally he would have stopped and turned back, but hearing Jak's cries of pain awoke a bravery in him that had been on an extended vacation for most of his life. Slowly and carefully the quivering Ottsel worked his way over to the hanging bodies of the elves. After what seemed like an eternity he was slowly climbing down one of their blood-soaked pants. Sure enough, Samos had been right. There, strapped to their belts were several sticks of high-powered dynamite. Daxter grabbed as many as he could carry then quickly scurried up their pants and began placing the dynamite at the specified locations.  
  
Jak coughed up several droplets of blood as he slowly rose from the ground. Sig and Dark Jak were at each other's throats, arm on arm pushing on each other. Sig grabbed Dark Jak by the throat and whipped him over his head onto the ground. Dark Jak latched onto Sig's arm and easily tossed him into the nearby wall. Jak tackled Dark Jak at full speed, but was flipped head- over-heels next to Sig. "Can't you send it to it's room or somethin'?" said Sig as he shakily rose back to his feet.  
  
"I don't think anything can stop it now."  
  
"Then we're in deep shit now."  
  
Half an hour passed. Sig and Jak were on their knees, panting. Dark Jak didn't have so much as a scratch, and hadn't even broken a sweat. Maia was laughing and clapping merrily. "This is but a taste of the pain that I endured for two hundred years. It's quite poetic, don't you agree?"  
  
Daxter plopped down next to Samos in an exhausted heap. "Well it's about time!" roared the sage, "I hope you put them in the right places!"  
  
"You were talking in my head, greeney," moaned Daxter, "here." He casually chucked a small device to the sage who caught it. "I'm guessing the bombs are set of by remote."  
  
"I suppose it's time to turn the tables," said Samos, and pushed the one large red button on the front of the small square device. At first nothing happened. There was almost a thirty second pause. Samos was about the scream at the exhausted Ottsel when all of a sudden there was a thunderous explosion. Boulders flew in all directions in a fiery vortex of pure chaos. Maia was knocked clean out of the air by a large rock fragment, and a round boulder momentarily floored Dark Jak. Seconds later it happened.  
  
Waterfalls of Blue, Red, and Yellow Eco flowed freely from the walls and collected in the basin-like crater at the center of the tomb. "Woah, this is all fitting together nicely," said the wide-eyed Ottsel. There was a shower of sparks as the three Ecos mixed. But then the new problem was soon noticed, and all hope was nearly lost. "The last bomb didn't go off!" squealed Daxter. Without warning Daxter, with an unseen fire leaping like hungry dogs in his eyes, surged forward towards the location of the last bomb.  
  
"Go Daxter!" yelled Samos.  
  
There was an explosion of purple energy as Maia rose from the tons of rocks that weighed her down. "Creature!" she shrieked. Dark Jak tossed the boulder on top of him away as if it were a beach ball. "Stop the furry one! He must not get to the explosive!" Before Dark Jak could even move Jak threw him against the wall. The creature opened it's pure black eyes to see Jak glowing with Red and Yellow Eco.  
  
"Round two," mused Jak, "you don't touch Dax." Dark Jak roared in a scream of pure fury. With his clawed hands both stretched to their full extent he charged his sire. Jak blocked Dark Jak's attacks easily and slammed him in the gut. Several globs of Dark Eco flew from Dark Jak's mouth like blood. But Dark Jak wasn't out yet. He grabbed Jak's arm and swung him to the ground. In one fluid motion DJ was on top of Jak with his claws at his throat. Dark Jak was thrown backward with a swift mule-kick from Jak.  
  
Maia had taken Daxter's destruction into her own hands. She was firing bolt after bolt of electricity at Daxter. Daxter, screaming, dodged each one of them in an odd sort of dance as he ran towards the dynamite. It was only twenty feet...fifteen...ten...  
  
One stray bolt of electricity caught Daxter off guard. He was hurled ten feet forward, unfortunately for Maia; he landed not one foot from the explosive. "Nighty night, sweetheart," said Daxter, blowing one final kiss to Maia before setting the timer to "one second." (yes, I am lazy.)  
  
One final explosion erupted from the wall. A flow of Green Eco shot forth from the wall in a sparkling solid mist. The last bit of it flowed into the basin where the other three Ecos were held. The mass of swirling colors fumed and began to sizzle. It shot upward in a miniature eruption and flew back down. Sparks flew from the concoction as it took the thickness of Dark Eco, yet became a creamy white. "No!" shrieked a despaired Maia. Jak took his cue and abandoned Dark Jak whom he had had pinned against the wall. Dark Jak, too began running after him and leapt forward but suddenly stopped in midair, sparks flying from his twitching body. Sig stood not twenty feet from him with his Peacemaker at hand.  
  
"Been saving that one for you, dough boy," laughed the giant.  
  
Without a second though Jak leaped downward into the swirling, oozing basin of White Eco. In one final, desperate shot, Maia fired a bolt toward Jak. This time the shot hit home. The bolt passed straight through Jak. His eyes widened in shock, and he gasped in horror as the pain suddenly flowed through him. And suddenly it left him as he hit the gelatinous ooze that was the White Eco.  
  
His body tingled as he sank slowly to the bottom, every care slowly floating from his mind. His one last though was of Keira as his body dissolved in the White Eco.  
  
Ekobean: I'm not going to say anything...oh wait, too late. R&R and don't worry Daxter is not dead...maybe. 


	16. Chapter 16: The Coming of Night

Ekobean: Nothing to say here. Read. It's the law.  
  
For the longest time nobody dared to move or breathe. The surface of the White Eco pool bubbles for several seconds before gradually dying down to the slowly turning, shining whirlpool.  
  
Suddenly Maia began laughing. It was a small chuckle at first, but then slowly rose to a high-pitched shriek. "It appears, Samos, that your savior could not handle the raw econetic power of the White Eco! Now your pitiful city shall pay the price for its insolence. The power of Dark Eco cannot be held back!"  
  
Maia motioned with her hand toward the crumpled heap that was Dark Jak. Like a puppet, Dark Jak rose and looked over at the remaining forces of Haven City. "My loyal servant," Maia whispered, "kill them all."  
  
Dark Jak slowly began to march toward the remainder of Haven's forces. Purple lightning shot from his body with every step, and the very stone beneath him seemed to sizzle at his footfalls.  
  
The Forces raised their guns defensively. "Stay back, freak!" Shady spat.  
  
Dark Jak growled and continued coming. Yet, about twenty feet from his victims, he stopped. The left side of his mouth twitched in a spastic jerk. His eyelids fluttered and closed. Dark Jak straightened suddenly and turned toward the hovering Maia. "What are you doing!" Maia yelled, "I gave you an order! Now kill!"  
  
Dark Jak bowed respectfully and then, with an inhuman scream, charged full tilt straight toward Maia. He leaped an incredible fifty feet toward the outraged sage and plowed into her, catching her around the waist and slammed her to the ground. Maia screeched and fired a Dark Eco beam into the creature. Dark Jak was sent flying backward and landed twenty feet away. A wide grin was spread across his pale face.  
  
"Die, traitor!" Maia yelled and fired an enormous Eco Beam at Dark Jak. The beam hit the creature with great force, and for a moment it seemed that Dark Jak would be engulfed. But then the receiving end of the beam began to weaken and shrink. As the beam died away it was visible what was happening. The beam was feeding into Dark Jak. It was not killing him or even hurting him, but helping him.  
  
Dark Jak was absorbing Maia's powers.  
  
"Maia stop!" Samos cried, "he's taking your powers! You're feeding him! Stop now or you'll kill us all!"  
  
When Maia responded she seemed on the verge of tears. "I – I can't!" she sobbed, "he's – taking – my..." Maia fell to her knees. She was no longer the semi-youthful wraith she once was, but a hag. A withered, wrinkled old woman, and the power continued to drain. And before the horrified citizen's eyes, Maia disintegrated and fell, shattering into a pile of dust.  
  
For ten horrible seconds nothing happened. Dark Jak just stood there, breathing heavily. Then suddenly his body convulsed. He doubled over in great pain, and began to scream. The changes were visible almost immediately. His body mass increased threefold, his clothing tearing almost indefinitely. His claws lengthened to five inches and his feet became almost dinosaur like, clawed and scaly. Last but not least were the changes on his back. The bolts of Dark Eco became more and more numerous and suddenly began to take shape.  
  
They wrapped around each other, forming what at last were undoubtedly wings. Dark Jak stood there for several minutes examining himself, and then began to laugh. It was a harsh, guttural snorting that shook the entire cave.  
  
He whipped his head about toward the remainder of the company. His batlike wings spread outward to their full twenty food span. An eruption of gunfire followed almost immediately. The shots of Yellow and Red Eco bounced harmlessly off of the giant's torso. He laughed and raised his hand, charging what would undoubtedly be the end of the group. Seconds before the fatal blast erupted from his hand the burial chamber began to rumble.  
  
The pool of White Eco surged upward in a fountain formation. A form could be seen moving within the flowing pool. A glowing, electric blue, humanoid form. It shot downward and landed gracefully on its feet. It seemed to glow with its own light, its eyes pulsated with a pure white fire. "You will not harm any more, creature," it said.  
  
Keira heaved a sigh of relief. "Jak," she breathed.  
  
Light Jak threw out his arms and two great wings spread from either side, the thin membrane connecting the "fingers" seemed to be made of pure light. "Come on," Light Jak sneered to the hulking giant, "round three."  
  
Dark Jak roared and charged the angelic figure that was Light Jak.  
  
Ekobean: Yes I know it was extremely short but I love to just make you squirm. I am really going to enjoy writing the next chapter, and I'm sure you'll enjoy reading it. Ciao! 


	17. Chapter 17: The Battle of Day and Night

Ekobean: I really enjoyed writing this. Plus, I get to exaggerate Light Jak's powers as much as I want because Jak 3 hasn't come out yet. Of course, months later when the game does come out people will review and say "Aw come on, Light Jak couldn't do that!" and "Aw you suck" and "Why are you named after beans?" Well, read this over then ok? BEFORE Jak 3 came out! Ok, so yeah.  
  
Replies Shadowsister: NEVER!!  
  
Samsonic91: Look dude(ette), Gol will avenge himself so I've made a chapter just for you, ok? But there is no way that Gol will come back and help Light Jak. Very, very, very sorry!! (sad face)  
  
K'sani'ala: Thank you very much! And I really enjoyed working on it. But I think we can write a little more before Jak 3 comes out. There is still the intro on the net...  
  
Time seemed to slow as Dark Jak charged the angelic figure of Light Jak. Light Jak, though a great deal smaller than his hulking counterpart, grabbed hold of Dark Jak's outstretched claws and flung him easily over his shoulder. Not wasting a second, the glowing Light Jak spread out his majestic wings and took to the air.  
  
Dark Jak shook his head and looked up fiercely at the hovering Light Jak. Dark Jak spread his electrical wings and shot straight for Light Jak. Light Jak angled his body and plummeted for the approaching creature. Their fists collided at the same time. There was a thunderous explosion as the two polar opposites collided. Two bubbles of rippling energy formed around the two struggling forms. Dark Jak was surrounded by a pulsating purple field of electricity, while Light Jak was surrounded by a rippling, silky bubble.  
  
Dark Jak took to a different tactic and spun around in midair, and struck Light Jak quickly in the head with his wing. Light Jak's wings gave way for a second and he fell, but that was all that Dark Jak needed. The Dark Eco behemoth snatched Light Jak's outstretched hand and threw him with all his strength into the stone wall. Light Jak's body, much like with Gol, smashed into the wall and kept going, creating a massive hole. Dark Jak, without a second thought, plunged into the hole.  
  
Seconds later a beam of pulsating white energy burst from the deep hole, carrying a screaming Dark Jak with it. Light Jak followed him out and began pummeling the momentarily dazed creature. He struck him in the stomach with a swift uppercut, then smashed him in the head with both hands in a ball.  
  
Dark Jak plummeted a few feet, but then quickly righted himself and with one burst of his mighty wings, hurled himself upward and slashed Light Jak across the chest with his five-inch-long claws. A thick, white substance leaked from Light Jak's wound, to thick to be blood. It was White Eco.  
  
Dark Jak spun around in midair and railed Light Jak in the head with one swift kick. Light Jak was hurled to the ground, stones cracking under the force of his impact. Dark Jak was on him in a flash with his massive arms around Light Jak's neck. Several seconds passed, and it seemed as though Dark Jak may actually have won. But just then Jak spread out his wings. A great bubble of light energy erupted from his very center, and Dark Jak was thrown backward with a howl. Light Jak looked over his shoulder at the momentarily slumped form of Dark Jak.  
  
Two balls of white fire formed at Light Jak's hands. With a yell of fury he threw the balls towards Dark Jak. Dark Jak was thrown backward with each hit. Light Jak's strategy suddenly became apparent. He was slowly, ever so slowly, pushing Dark Jak to the pool of swirling Dark Eco. The opposite force would undo everything that Dark Jak was.  
  
Unfortunately, Dark Jak also seemed to realize this strategy as well. Dark Jak sidestepped the next wave of fireballs and pulled his arms back and then clapped his hands together. A huge wave of Dark Energy threw Light Jak backward. The angel flipped in midair and landed skillfully on his feet, though he slid several more feet before coming to a stop.  
  
Dark Jak had already taken to the air again. Light Jak quickly followed, glowing with anger.  
  
The opposites slowly glided around the expanse of the chamber like vultures, occasionally flapping their wings. The two of them were looking into each other's eyes, Dark Jak's pure darkness, and Light Jak's glowing white. Without warning, at the exact same second, they both shot toward each other and met in midair. The eyes of the spectators barely caught the movement of the fight.  
  
The two creatures were exchanging hits blow for blow. Occasionally they would strike the other in the stomach or head. But this was very rare, they moved in almost perfect harmony. Finally Dark Jak seemed to gain the upper hand. He dodged Light Jak's kick and grabbed him by the neck and spun him around, and then threw him to the ground.  
  
He landed on top of him with considerable force, and began slashing at the flailing Light Jak. One leg rose from the hole in the ground and hit Dark Jak in the chin. The beast staggered backward, but Light Jak was already on top of him. He tackled him to the ground and then tossed him back into the air.  
  
He flew at the hovering creature with full speed and kicked him sideways in the stomach, then turned around and left a solid imprint of both boots on his face. Dark Jak screamed in rage and blasted Light Jak to the far end of the room with a blast of Dark Eco.  
  
The two floated on the opposite sides, gasping and heaving in exhaustion. A startling phenomenon began to take place. Both of them began to spark with electricity. The random charges moved from their torsos to their arms, and finally into their hands. Both of them raised their hands into the air and then, yelling, fired equal beams of Eco toward each other.  
  
The beams met in the center of the room. The walls of the tomb began to shake, dust particles falling from cracks in the walls. The contrast between Dark and Light was nearly impossible. They were polar opposites, and the outcome would soon have explosive results. Dark Jak was slowly pushing his beam forward. His teeth were born in a fiery snarl. He moved his arms backward and forward, as if expelling every bit of power he hand into the beam.  
  
Light Jak was slowly being pushed backward. His expression was one of extreme pain. His fiery eyes were closed tight. He was almost up against the wall. The beam of Dark Eco was slowly overcoming his, moving closer...closer still...  
  
It was impossible. This creature showed no self restraint, no sense of end. It had just the mind to win and to survive. Though powered by White Eco, he could not push himself to his full abilities. Dark Jak had existed much longer than his Light Powers had. It was impossible...  
  
Suddenly an image popped into his head. Keira. If he lost, she would die. Everyone would die. This creature would kill everything, destroy the world until nothing was left. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't.  
  
A new power awoke within Jak. A great majestic power and understanding that he had never known. His beam began to grow, to push forward toward the creature. Dark Jak's pitch-black eyes widened in an expression that had never before soiled his face: terror.  
  
It pushed as far as he could, tried to push back the rapidly advancing White Eco beam. But it was no good, the beam advanced ever on. It overtook Dark Jak in a fiery blaze of white-hot pain. Dark Jak was nearly destroyed by the beam. His wings were destroyed, his hair burned away. Moaning, he fell into the pit of White Eco.  
  
A terrible scream erupted from the pit. Dark Jak writhed and twisted as he slowly sank to the bottom. The White Eco slowly ate away at his dark flesh. It ate to his core, and soon he disappeared. There was a great explosion as his core erupted. White Eco surged from the pool, and then receded, now calmer than ever before.  
  
Light Jak gave a solemn nod and then fainted. He hit the ground near the group, already unconscious. "Jak!" Keira was at the glowing Light Jak's side in a flash, her hands slowly running up and down his scratched face. His glowing eyes opened groggily, and slowly came into focus on Keira's face.  
  
"Keira," he breathed.  
  
"You did it!" Keira said, "you saved us all!" She leaned in and kissed him softly on his lips.  
  
"My boy," said Samos, "there is one more thing you must do."  
  
"Yes," said Light Jak slowly rising to his feet, "the Lurkers." He exhaled deeply and began to rise into the air. His hands glowed with fire. He raised his hands above his hands, outspread his wings, and clapped his hands together.  
  
A surge of almost liquid-like energy flew from his body. It filled the room in an instant, and traveled down every passage of the tomb.  
  
Brutter clutched his ribs and whimpered. The Lurkers, using brute strength alone had managed to hold back the Metal Heads. But the Metal Heads did not tire as the Lurkers did. There were very few Lurkers left, and they were scattered.  
  
The scythe-wielding Metal Head stood laughing over Brutter. It raised it's scythe, about to...  
  
There was a sudden shriek. A massive wave of some kind of glowing energy flew from every passage of the hall. The Lurkers passed unharmed through the energy, which was much less to say for the Metal Heads. As the wave passed over them, every last one of them turned to dust.  
  
Ekobean: Rushed at the very, very end. Still proud of it though. Hope to get many, many, many reviews though. Two more chapters to go. Read, review, and enjoy. 


	18. Chapter 18: Aftermath

Ekobean: I know it's taken me quite a while to post this next chapter, but here it is. I'm purposely not putting a whole lot of detail into this just for a little mystique. No I am not lazy.

_(two days later...)_

Services for the fallen comrades were held as soon as possible. The remainder of the city had gathered around the Palace to listen to Ashelin's speech.

Speeches were given from the remaining living commanders. Each speech was virtually the same, speaking about how bravely their men had forged on undaunted into battle.

Jak, Shady, and Sig; each one of them sadly gave their farewell speeches to their lost companions.

Ashelin and Torn were the last to speak. They said how that day would impact the future of the city. Not one life lost would ever be replaced, citizens who had lost relatives and loved ones had suffered losses greater than any other.

"Last but not least," said Ashelin, "the Dark Eco Silos will be disposed of. They forever remain a dark menace to this planet. I leave Jak in charge of this. If we are correct, his recently endowed Light Powers should have the ability to destroy the Dark Eco within them."

After the services the remaining residents of the city departed to the very few homes that remained. Many of them lay in smoking piles of wood and metal and stone. So many things were destroyed. The Palace had suffered so many battle scars that it was likely that it would never be renewed. The city walls were destroyed in all four sectors of the city. It would indeed be years before the city could be renewed to its former glory.

Jak was wandering aimlessly through the ruined streets of Haven City. His booted feet were leading him somewhere, but his mind wasn't catching up with them.

His mind was focused solely on Daxter. The Ottsel, his best friend, had sacrificed his life to save the rest of them. "I never would have thought Daxter had those kinds of guts," Jak thought.

After nearly two hours of weaving in and out of mourning citizens, Jak looked up to where he was. Somehow he wasn't surprised, for he found himself standing in front of the Naughty Ottsel Saloon. Daxter's now decapitated devilish likeness stood lopsided on top of the entranceway.

Jak sighed and looked out into the waters of the Port. During the attack a massive hole had been blown in the city wall. Much of the polluted water had drained out through the hole, and the true depth of the Port could be seen. Nearly seventy feet deep in a wide, smooth basin.

Jak shook his head and entered the saloon. As the doors closed loudly behind him, he found himself staring at a room full of familiar, sad faces. Tess was standing behind the bar staring blankly at a framed picture in her hand. Sig and Samos were sitting side by side drinking from rather large mugs filled with a thick purple substance.

Ashelin and Torn were sitting across from Keira, who had her head buried in her hands. Jak sighed heavily and sat down next to Keira, resting his arm comfortingly around her waist. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Me?" she sobbed, "what about you? Aren't you even a little sad? You knew him better than anyone, he was your best friend! I haven't even see you shed a tear."

She's right, he thought. The truth was he had been doing his best not to think about Daxter. In his heart he told himself that he had somehow, despite all odds, survived the explosion. He knew it was impossible, yet maybe...

Jak shook his head sullenly and walked over to the bar. "I'll have some Lurker wine, Tess," he said without looking up.

"Get it yourself," muttered Tess not once tearing her eyes from the picture.

"I can remember when you two first traveled to Misty Island," said Samos suddenly, "Daxter was an elf too then. Such a fool, so careless." Samos chuckled slightly before continuing. "Daxter and I never did get on very well, did we. I always felt detached from that sprout. Yet, now that he's gone..." the sage groaned and slammed his head into the polished counter, sending his bird flying away up to the rafters, twittering.

And suddenly everyone was talking about Daxter, as well as guzzling down alcohol as if it were a necessity of life. Sig, after telling over and over about how Daxter had bragged about his "killer instincts" had pounded his fist onto the table so many times that a large dent had formed where his fist impacted.

Keira had fallen to the floor laughing about how Daxter had continually hit on her back at Sandover.

Soon almost everyone had a tale to tell about the wise-cracking Ottsel. Almost an hour later, just when everyone were laughing about Daxter's recently discovered hilarious antics, the doors opened. In stepped a heavily cloaked elf. A metal mask obviously forged from a Metal Head face obscured his face.

"What do you want?" chuckled Tess, wiping a tear from her eye.

"First of all," said the mysterious stranger, "I wished to see the man whom saved our city. And second..." the man lifted his gloved hand to his Metal Head mask and drew it from his face. Jak, Samos, and Keira gasped. "...who said you could have a party at my place when I'm not here?"

There stood Daxter. It was not the face of the Ottsel, but the face of the elf. His buck teeth had mysteriously vanished, and his skin seemed to have toughened quite a bit, but it was him. He drew back his hood to reveal his unchanged red hairdo.

"Who are you?" inquired Tess.

"It's...Daxter..." whispered Jak, awestruck.

"W-what?"

"He's an elf again," he muttered. Teetering, Jak rose from his bar stool and walked over to the cloaked elf. Daxter was nearly as tall as Jak, and his build was possibly greater. Probably all that running he did as an Ottsel.

Jak laid a quivering hand on Daxter's chest. No lie, he was real. For the first time tears streamed from Jak's eyes. Jak hugged Daxter with all his strength. "Easy there, big guy," yelled Daxter, laughing.

Jak parted from Daxter and still crying sat back down at his seat.

Tess slowly walked out from behind the bar. With her hand clutched firmly to her chest she walked up to Daxter.

"Hey there sweetheart," grinned Daxter.

Tess snorted and smacked Daxter across the room. An utter silence fell across the room.

"That's for scaring me like that," growled Tess. Before Daxter could argue she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips firmly to his. She held him for ten seconds before parting. "That's for coming back."

"Heh, I can live with that."

"Daxter, how?" said Samos.

"Well, from what I can figure out, it was Jak. The explosion killed me definitely, but that last blast of Light Eco somehow brought me back. When I woke up I was naked under a pile of dirt like this."

"I knew you were too tough for 'em, big guy!" roared Sig, now blind drunk.

"Yeah, right Sig," said Daxter, edging away a bit. He then turned back to Jak and Keira. "Well guys," he said, "think we can put this rock back to how it was?"

Jak smiled and walked back over to Daxter. "Yeah, we can now."

Ekobean: I hope you like the end. There is one chapter after this that is solely for Dark Eco Freak. So, I hope you liked this. I know it is kind of quickly written, but I am writing at 10:00 PM. I am very tired, so I'm going to bed. Seeya.


	19. Chapter 19: Gol's Revenge

Ekobean: Now, because Dark Eco Freak has been so patiently waiting, It's Gol's Revenge.

_The Underworld..._

Maia was falling, and yet, not. She had a distinct feeling that she was moving downward. Which way was up? Which way was down? She felt as though she were falling head first through curdled milk, the gravity felt sluggish and almost goopy. Her hair was waving gently in a non-existent breeze.

All around her was an ever-moving wall of black mist, weaving in and out of each other like fabric being stitched together.

Where was she? Was this where the dead came?

Suddenly she snapped back to reality. Dead? How could she be dead? And then she remembered the creature, the abomination that had drained every drop of her life force from her body, leaving her only as a pile of dust on the mortal plane.

_How did he get the best of me?_ She thought desperately to herself, _did those two torturous centuries in the Silos mean nothing?_

True, this Dark Jak had been purely powered by Dark Eco, but had no humanity, was not driven by anything but Jak's id. (Note: the "id" is the more basic, more primal, animalistic part of the human psyche).

Maia's gloved hands clenched into fists at the mere thought of something so primitive overpowering her. _How did he beat me?_

Then she felt it. A faint "woosh" to what was probably her left. Maia cautiously looked over to her left, eyes nervously scanning the interlacing mists. She had the distinct feeling that she was not the only soul about.

She felt it again behind her. She whipped around only to find, again, nothing. She continued to fall, slowly spiraling, searching for her companion. After what seemed to be an hour, she gave up and continued to fall. She had to find a way out of here. This path had to have an end to it.

"Maia..." 

Maia gave a sudden startled shriek. The voice had no source. It had come from within her own head.

"_Your search would be in _vain, Maia. There is no way out."

The voice suddenly took shape, in a way. It became material, a true voice, not a thought. And Maia recognized it. Horrified, she turned around. There, not five feet from her also falling, was Gol.

"Gol," she half whimpered.

"I'm flattered you remember me, dear sister," Gol mused sarcastically.

"How are you here? Where is here?"

"We have done terrible things, dear sister. And for that, this is our punishment. To fall into the never-ending Abyss, the dark pit in the center of the Underworld. Surely you remember it from the books of Precursor Lore we read as children."

"No," Maia whimpered, shrinking away, "It can't be...we are doomed to forever fall?"

"Not quite, sister," laughed Gol. There was something in Gol's laugh that made Maia's heart turn to ice. Surely Gol's laugh had always been chilling, but never like this. This laugh was especially terrifying somehow. "You see, the Underworld has strange ways of working. For people who are connected is some way, like spouses or relations, both terrible, who have been betrayed by the other, the victim is given the option of revenge." Gol's eyes burned with a lusting cold fire.

"W-w-what?" Maia stuttered.

"Shall I simplify it for you?" said Gol, steadily drawing nearer, "because you killed me, I am allowed to avenge myself upon you in any way I see fit. And, for my choice, I decide to destroy you from the inside out!"

Gol's body arched suddenly, his limbs slowly turning to mist. With unnatural speed Gol flew at Maia, entering her, penetrating her from any crevice available. Mouth, nose, eyes, ears, all were being entered. Maia screamed and clutched at her head. A terrible pain erupted from deep inside her. The pit was soon filled with her screams of agony. Her pain was both physical and mental. While every nerve in her body was wracked with unceasing agony, her mind was alive with every evil and bad memory of her past, played before her eyes over and over again.

"_Eternity is a long time, sister," _hissed Gol from inside her head_, "I do hope you enjoy your end."_

Maia screamed, clutching at every part of her. She wanted more than anything to die, which was impossible since she was already dead. She tore away her clothing, scratched at her own flesh, trying desperately to rid herself of her torturous, vengeful brother.

Screaming, naked, and tormented, Maia fell ever on into the deepest, darkest parts of the Underworld, never to come to redemption. All her past, horrible sins were finally to be repaid with her unending suffering...

THE END

Ekobean: Hah!! shouts with joy Dark Menace is completed. I'm kind of sad, but happy as well. I completed my second fanfic! Please read and review a lot! I really hope you liked it!


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